RIP UNCLE FRED AND UNCLE DON

By the time I was 10 I had already lost 2 uncles to AIDS. I suppose it comes along with the territory when you have lesbian moms. Above is my Uncle Fred's Keith Haring t-shirt, I've worn it so many times that the colour is starting to fade. When I wear it, I think of him and I think of how he would pick me up and call me "Goofy" and I'd call him "Donald Duck". Every year I for my birthday I got a Dr. Seuss book from my Uncle Don. He'd read them to me when he came to visit and would try and help me learn how to read. I can still remember their voices and how they'd sit outside to smoke. I suppose once you've got AIDS you don't worry much about lung cancer. I can remember my Uncle Don coming to visit when he was really sick. He'd have a huge plastic organiser, one that you'd use for beads, and in it were all of his pills that he had to take. Once he was giving himself a shot and I was watching, I asked him if it hurt and he just smiled and said "A little." The last time he came to visit was around Halloween, I was Batman. My mom took a picture of me with him on the couch all wrapped up in blankets because he was cold. He passed away a little while after that, I remember getting a little glass Blue Bird and keeping it safe in my room. It was to remember him by. I still have it on my desk and can see it from where I am sitting. The last time I saw my Uncle Fred he had already begun to develop dementia. He wasn't the same and I knew something was wrong. He wasn't playing with me like he used to, and it scared me. I remember taking my toys to my room and crying because I didn't understand what was going on or why he was so different. A few months later he passed away from pneumonia. I never got to see him again or say good bye. Rest in peace Uncle Don and Uncle Fred. I love you and I miss you.