I'm not really into the whole gift thing but I am grateful for having a large member and have plenty of energy to go the distance if that counts.

Life, the Gift of Life.

When I was a kid my family was large. When you turned 13 my Aunt Verna would make us a leather wallet for Christmas. It was a family tradition. Most of us still have them. I know where mine is. Tracy3

Surviving HIV infection. In 1987, I was a mess…. drug addicted, 24yr old, college drop out, out of the closet for just over a year. I met my first relationship, then tested HIV+. I couldn’t believe I had screwed things up so badly, and I wasn’t going to redeem myself before life was over.

Surviving HIV infection now for 35yrs has given me that chance and more. I had time to get clean (on methadone, but I will take it). Volunteer for AIDS, gay, and wildlife causes. Go back to school. Get my RN. Work 17yrs in the hospital that accepted AIDS patients in the early days. Have long lasting gay relationships of good quality. Care for both parents until death. Become a responsible home owner, and tax paying, politically aware and participating citizen of this country.

This gratitude list of all that is good in my life (and there was no shortage of bad) would never have been possible if I had died like so many, in the early days of HIV infection. For that opportunity I will be eternally grateful.

My best gift was from Christmas 1984. My bfriend at the time gave me a mink stuffed teddy bear. Omg, it was so soft. I kept it for years. I lost it in 2008 when my house burned down.