Faith

The story

Faith is the name I have given this doll because to live Life on a daily basis with this disease, you have to have faith in all sorts of things – Your own strength, wisdom, courage, integrity and sanity. I have lived with HIV for ten years now, and although I am grateful that there are more treatment options, it isn’t a picnic to take all this stuff. These drugs act very differently on women than they do on men, but few studies have been conducted to date to deal with those issues – and like so many other areas of women’s’ healthcare, may never be studied the way it needs to be. As a woman in this epidemic, we are seen as “vectors of disease” – don’t you dare think of becoming a mother, because you might infect that baby; don’t you dare think of becoming someone’s lover, because you might infect that poor man – these are the messages that get drilled in – internally as well as externally.You may ask why is Faith smiling? You live the life you choose – and you can either let all this bullshit get you down or you can wake up each morning, put your best foot forward and hope for love, peace and tranquillity to enter your day. And a HUGE sense of humor doesn’t hurt either… LTM is a consultant for the State Health Dept. in Michigan, as well as an activist, widow, and a champion of cause that deal with fairness for all persons, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation