World AIDS Day

Like many tragedies, AIDS becomes real when it touches someone you know. I know several men who died, including one who was a good friend. I also know several men who have been living with the disease for many years now.

This morning I chanced across this section of the AIDS Quilt. The quilt was created by the Names Project and consists of panels created by friends and families of some of the deceased. The idea behind it was to commemorate those who had died and to remind everyone that these are real people with names and families and friends. Over the years the quilt or sections of the quilt have been on display across the country. I have visited some of these displays and found the names of people I knew.

 

I have no idea who Barney Mitchum was, that young may who died too young. But my mother's family name is Mitchum, and there is a chance that Barney and I are related in some way.

That got me searching the quilt and  I discovered one other Mitchum -- named Michael. 

I also discovered eight people named Dodd. There was one who had a peach on his panel, making me think he might be a Georgia Dodd, like me. And there was a Michael and a Mike, but I could not tell if they were mourners or mourned. Another was born in 1950, as was I. He lived to be 33.

Not all of the names that show up in the search were AIDS deaths, I don't think. Some were the names of those who made the panels or signed them. But in any case, these are all Dodds and Mitchums who were touched by the disease in some way.  

You may think you don't know anyone who was affected by AIDS. But you know me. And I was affected by it and shed tears because of the losses.