Welcome to December! San Diego weather is finally starting to get chilly and there is nothing better than having someone special to cuddle with. Watch out boysโฆ This is when boys are looking for someone to take home for the Holidays!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and getting stuffed! We have so much to be grateful for every day, I hope you tell all who you are thankful for around you how you feel more than just during the holidays. I am extremely grateful for all of you; you are a part of this community and LGBTQ+ rainbow. I am grateful for our physical, mental and spiritual health, and healing as the last couple years have not been easy โ yet we have managed to survive and thrive. I cannot help but reminisce about and be grateful for all those beautiful souls who we lost; without them many of us would not be here or know what love is or know how to love. And I am thankful for my family and my friends, those who have served for our freedom and our rights, and for all the positive energy and love collectively put out into the world.
With Christmas and the other Holidays fast approaching, yโall better get to decorating and posting all those fabulous sights on social media! I am ready to see what all of you creative people come up with. Remember that this holiday season there are those less fortunate than us and many kids in our own community who are in need. Please think about donating, sponsoring, or just loving those who are less fortunate. Choose the organization or family that calls to you and your heart and remember that you can bring a smile and a warm meal to someone who will be forever grateful for your generosity. I challenge you to do something for someone else this holiday season that will make a difference. Letโs share the love!
Talking about being grateful and sharing the love. I want to thank the wonderful staff at AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)! I thought I had a good doctor before starting care at AHF, but I was so wrong. Dr. Zweig has been a godsend and I cannot thank him enough for all of the knowledge he has, his willingness to educate me and help me feel comfortable with change, and for giving me a better understanding of what my numbers mean. When I started going to AHF I was on Atripla and now I am on Dovato. I am happy to report that after my last labs my CD4 count has almost doubled. My body is responding great to the medicine and I cannot wait to see what my next labs show. If you are seeking a new doctor, medicine, or just curious how great they are at AHF, give them a try. It will not hurt to change it up a bit and who knows you might love them as well. Even if you are not HIV POZ this is a great place to come get your HIV testing, STI testing, and getting on or maintaining your PREP. If you have questions about any of their services, you can read the article in this issue of LGBTQ San Diego County News about the services they offer and how easy it is for you to get them.
AHF just moved into a beautiful new space at 3580 Fifth Ave., near The Loft. Also make sure to stop by the wonderful thrift store below AHF โ Out of the Closet is great! Not only do they have wonderful items and great prices, 96 cents of every dollar spent there goes to the AIDS Healthcare Foundationโs HIV/AIDS programs serving in the U.S. and abroad. They provide top HIV medical care to everyone regardless of their income or ability to pay. Stop by and say โHiโ to their fabulous store manager, Peter. You can also read the exposรฉ on this new, fantastic shop in our Vol. 3, Issue 3 from November 2021.
In my last column, I mentioned that I had met someone wonderful. Things are going great, and we are enjoying getting to know each other. I do not recall the last time I had smiled, blushed, cackled, and cried so much from having so much fun. Itโs funny how things can change so quickly for two people when they finally cross the right paths. I never expected that I would find someone so different, so intimate, so intuitive, and so perfectly raw and flawed. I feel like, in the past, I have always wanted men I have met to be perfect and complete opposites to me. I wanted them to be masculine, tough, strong, and alpha, but as I get older I have come to the realization that that is far from what I need. I need someone who is more in touch with their feelings, who is able to receive love, and who can give and share it. It has been a real eye-opening experience that it is okay not to be perfect. It is alright to not be okay all the time. We both have had a very rough few weeks and we have had times of just radio silence, but we both know we are there for each other in a blink of an eye. The beautiful aftermath from hard situations is that wounds heal, hearts become stronger, and light and love get reenergized. I am looking forward to seeing where this new and exciting adventure will go and to see myself evolve from a thorn infested rose bush to a beautiful blooming flower that gives life and a glimmer of hope to others.
By now, I think you might have picked up on a pattern โ giving back. This holiday season I challenge you to give back and pay it forward. I challenge you to make a difference, no matter how small it might be, do it! Make someone smile, give someone a compliment, buy someone a coffee or a warm meal, or adopt a family or child for Christmas, and share the love โ your abundance and light. It is so simple to make a positive impact on someone elseโs life. You will be surprised how generous the universe will reward you.
Until we meet again, stay blessed my friends.
Much love always, Michael.
