Brilliant, Gay, and HIV Positive -- Discussion

you amaze me. not sure what else to say. i am a whole lot of flattered, i am equally a bit embarrassed. from our very uneasy first encounter on dKos to finally meeting you for real in the lobby of the hotel (proving that i truly was not a pigment or figment of your imagination) that muggy, humid, magical (and BATLESS) july evening in austin, a world changed. you said "you'll know it's me by the hair." i did. but i digress. a world changed, not just for me, but also for a lot of people across the country who would have suffered the rules changes proposed by the bush administration that would have severely hurt their (my own perhaps) health care access (through medicare and medicaid). and it changed because of you. or, rather, it did NOT change, thankfully. simply put, because of you they were not hurt. it was after all the work YOU did, the advocacy YOU did, the extra mile YOU walked that helped stop this madness this time by the administration. while countless will never know what you did on their behalf, i do. to have you write something as beautiful and as kind as this diary is a gift beyond almost anything i have ever received in my life. i am really lucky to be able to call you my friend.