World AIDS Day --- 40 years later

Today is, among other things, World AIDS Day 2021 and I've been browsing some of the memories shared recently on The AIDS Memorial, a site I follow on various social media platforms, including Twitter, the source of the graphic here.

Media coverage this year is sparse --- so much to worry about publicly and privately in this troubled old world: Shooting deaths yesterday at a high school in Michigan, that new Omicron variant and more.

I'm remembering some specifically whose lives were claimed way too early in this earlier pandemic and thinking of others living now with its continuing effects.

I thought of a candlelight vigil many years ago on the snow-covered grounds of Hospice of North Iowa in Mason City when I learned from another shivering bystander that the end was nearing for a mutual friend.

I'm remembering the first time a family published matter-of-factly in an obituary published in the Chariton Newspapers, known for poisonous editorializing about issues related to AIDS and specifically about LGBTQ people, that a loved one had died of complications from AIDS.

And the more recent loss of a friend who was a long-time survivor. 

My goodness, it's been almost 40 years ...

"Ending the HIV epidemic is within our reach, and we are committed to finishing this work," President Biden wrote in his World AIDS Day 2021 proclamation. "On World AIDS Day, we rededicate ourselves to building on the progress of the last 4 decades; upholding and advancing human rights; supporting research, science, and data-driven solutions; expanding access to housing, education, and economic empowerment; and fighting stigma and discrimination. No one living with HIV should suffer the undeserved guilt and prejudice that too many continue to experience. We must innovate and explore new ways to help address HIV/AIDS in communities here at home and around the world." Amen to that