Making HIV Real

I have never personally met an HIV positive person before aside from my boyfriend and his friend, a Filipino who is based in the US who went here for a visit last Christmas. My boyfriend told me that his friend has been living a 'positive' life for 5-7 years now, if I remember it right. But since I only found out about his status from my boyfriend and not through him personally, while I only got my confirmation a few days ago, I never got the chance to really talk to him about IT when I went to spend Christmas with them.

My boyfriend, on the other hand, knows a few, and some of them are very close to him. He told me about his (ex)bf and now good friend,S (who is an American). S has been living the positive life for 7 years or so now.

I have been constantly chatting to S since my boyfriend and I became together last year and have been very comfortable with each other. We have mostly been talking about relationships and casual subjects, but never about HIV until my boyfriend confessed to him about his HIV status in November. Although BF and I haven't confirmed our status yet, we have lived "assumed-positive". Since then, most of my conversations with S would be about dealing with HIV.

S is a smart guy. He used to works as a lab technician and certainly knows a lot about HIV. But aside from his knowledge and experience in dealing with HIV, it is his encouragement that keeps me see my new circumstance in a 'positive' light (pun intended). I have been drawing inspiration from how he take life and living despite what has been said about HIV.

Surely, I have read a lot of testimonies about dealing with the condition, but to know that it is a 'real person' and not just a faceless name who shares experiences is an entirely different thing. It gives life to mere words. It making HIV real.

S is visiting us from the US for a summer vacation here soon. I can't wait to personally meet him.