The Vancouver Initiative for AIDS Innovation

I was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s. Then, I was surrounded by friends and my chosen extended family. It wasn't until I was forced to leave beautiful “Hawaii nei” and return to Vancouver that I knew what it was like to be alone and not well connected.

I have always believed that if you stay busy, you don't have time to be sick. So I pushed my way into every organization I could find. I first met Sharon and Terri at a committee meeting. My association with that group ended, and we lost touch.

It was about a year before we saw each other again. At Vancouver’s annual AIDS candlelight memorial we talked for a short time and exchanged numbers. A few days later the phone rang and they asked if they could come over to see me.

They said they wanted to take me on as a client, to give me reflexolgy and kinesiology. I was raised in a household that believed in the benefits of alternative health, and the girls and I had talked about it briefly. But I had to tell them I just couldn't afford it.

"NO", they said, there would be no charge. They brought their massage table up three flights of stairs to my apartment almost every week.

Now, their lives have moved on. They have taken in two foster children, got married (same-sex marriage is legal in Canada), and moved away. But we remain in touch and the best of friends.

This is just one example of the people in our community who live the life of true compassion. There are too many more in my life to name them all.
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As AIDS increasingly becomes a commodity, let’s not forget the angels who live amongst us. They give of their time, their talents and their unconditional love.

And ask for nothing in return but friendship.

© Sharyle Lyndon