Deb Runion

The story

AIDS Diagnosis: December 19, 1995 Date of Death: November, 2005 She walks on a path winding and full of changes but wide enough to accommodate friends. The girl has no knowledge of strangers – only magicians. She carries the world in her hand; he holds mysteries in his pocket. Sometimes they journey alone, sometimes together. Her cup of security is priceless – encrusted with the jewels of family, washed in the silver and gold of friends. They are her Holy Grail. The key of wisdom she wears around her neck resting near her heart for it is the Key to Heaven and the kingdom is within. Water of grace, the girl bears it in pots fashioned from the healing clay of mercy; she submerges herself in the black depths of mystery and walks on that ocean’s bottom, maintaining her life by breathing the air of forgiveness innate to the Creator’s womb. She meets the bear of romance with respect. Pulling berries from her pocket, she offers a gift. Standing bear sings her the song of power and they part. The Cobra lays coiled in the center of her path. She kneels humbly before it, honouring the mystery and power it possesses. The serpent strikes her heart, but only lightly grazes her skin as though anointing her with a kiss. The wall of death is high and deep, but transparent. She sees into the world beyond and is not afraid. Laughing, she drops the cloth of flesh and dons the feather fabric preferred by Spirit. Without restriction her soul flies. Deb Runions is a Tennessean, a Democrat, a student of theosophy, a writer, a teacher, and an AIDS activist. She is also a daughter, sister, widow, mother and grandmother. Her message is this: AIDS is here to heal-not just those of us who have the infection but American society as a whole.