I lost my cousin to AIDS five years ago. He was too afraid to tell the family he was HIV positive for many years, he was afraid of what we would think of him. I’m sorry he never felt he could tell us what was going on with him – in memory of Aaron, I will talk about HIV with my partner and family members.

I never thought I was at risk for HIV since I was in a monogamous relationship. But neither one of us had ever been tested for HIV so we didn’t really know going into it if we were positive or not. We just assumed we weren’t because we didn’t have any symptoms. But after being together for a few years, I started getting sick all the time and finally my doctor suggested an HIV test. I was shocked to learn I was HIV positive! Now I really wish I had gotten tested sooner because I wouldn’t have put my partner at risk and I could have gotten care sooner.