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I was born the youngest of seven children, December 15, 1966 (the day Walt Disney died) I grew up in several cities in the Northwest area of New Mexico with five of my siblings, the two oldest having left home before my birth. My parents separated when I was nine years old. My mother and I moved to a small community named Aztec, NM (pop. 1,200). At the age 17, I was removed from my home by the county. I lived with one of my brothers for several months and was then passed on to my Mormon Grandparents in Logan, Utah. I had my first homosexual experiences with two students at the local High School. After five months my Grandparents thought I was a little too wild for their small Mormon community, so they sent me off to my sister's, in San Diego, CA,. Ah, the beginning of my adult sexual life. I had a wonderful two week affair with a 34 yo man from Philadelphia, named Joey, who was visiting his sister. I babysat for her, which is how I met him.. She and her husband had to leave town soon after he arrived, I was the only person he really knew so we ended up spending a lot of time together. It was a scary and wonderful experience. After he left I became a bit of an party animal, drinking, drugs...... After four months my sister got sick of trying to keep track of me, so she sent back home to live with my mother. Three months after my 18th birthday I met a man at a fashion show that I ended up with for five and a half frantic years. Tony was his name. He was 26 when I met him. A year after I met him I joined the US Army. I made it through Basic and my Advanced training and was stationed in Hawaii. Once in Hawaii Tony decided that he no longer wanted me to be in the military. At his beckoning I went AWOL. We lived in Waikiki for four months, until we could raise enough money to leave. From there we went to Los Vegas, where we hustled enough money to move on to Albuquerque, NM. He and I ended up moving to a total of six different cities in four states. Every time we had to move, he told me that someone (an Official) was asking about me, so we had to move on. We did this for four years. After returning to Albuquerque. I found out that what we were running from were the people Tony had conned for substantial amounts of money. When I found out, I confronted him and he promised, "it wouldn't ever happen again." It did. I left him. I got together with a friend of mine that had just broken up with his partner and we decided to move to Orlando, Fl., on our way we stopped off in Austin, TX., to make a little money to finish our trip. He got mixed up in drugs and split. I stayed. I fell quickly in love with this beautiful city. I contains a magic all its own. I ended up working in a night club, bartending. This is where I met Norman, the man that turned my life around. He taught me how to love myself, he taught me that I can't keep running from my past, he taught me I didn't need anyone to be a whole person. He walked me through a year of therapy, which prepared me for turning myself in to the authorities. The Army out-processed me in 10 days. Norman picked me up at the Army base after I was done, drove me home and told me that we could no long be lovers. He and I remained the best of friends until his death in 1994. He died of hepatitis (he would go with out eating and only drink coffee and smoke cigs, when working on one of his projects) several months after I found out that I was HIV+. He was not the person that I contracted it from, in fact he was HIV negative.. I contracted HIV from a guy that I knew from the clubs, I spent one night with him after ingesting 3 hits of Ecstasy. It was a night of unsafe sex in the throws of a narcotic overdose.
I tested positive 8 months later, Feb. 10, 1994, when I was working for the State of Texas. I was at this time in a relationship with a guy named Jeff. Jeff was intense and possessive. I left him June 95, for someone named Lake. I spent the next two years battling Lake, AIDS, drug addiction and mostly myself. I won the battles with all of them. I left Lake, October 1997 and moved in with a friend of mine.
On November 9, 1997, I met John, a wonderful man with the patience and faith to put up with my crazy life. John is HIV negative and I pray he will stay that way. He lights up my life with his brilliant smile and sparkling blue eyes. I hope to spend the rest of my life with him. John has a degree in Theology, but is presently working as a payroll accountant for a construction company. We are presently working on making our relationship a little more "open" to new experiences. I'm working on my education and figuring out who I am (yes, I am a codependent). John and I are doing great!! We have had several interesting experiences as of early 2000 and have overcome a few hurdles. I feel like we grow and become closer every day. My health is at an all time high these days. I have left my position with the State of Texas, and work as a retail manager. I have an overall better outlook on life with endless possibilities before me. |
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