Miracles DO Happen!

I have some spectacular news! My aunt called me tonight to catch me up on this week's family news. There's so much going on at present that the bi-weekly report takes a while. But buried deep in tonight's phone call was a miracle that was almost skipped over amid all the other reports.

I have a male cousin, now in his early 50s, who has been HIV positive since the early 1980s, shortly after AIDS/HIV was discovered. Before long, he had full-blown AIDS.

Fortunately, M. was part of a pioneering group of patients in San Francisco who were chosen early on to be treated with some of the greatest drug cocktails used against HIV. He works hard at keeping himself fit and eats very healthfully. To look at him, you'd think he was just a really buff, beautiful man. And he is. (I've always had a crush on him, since we were kids. He's a cutie!)

He's also got a very strong immune system working in his favor. Doctors have studied his physiology to try to learn more about this virus and what it does to its victims.

For more than 20 years -- closer to 25 years now -- M. has been fighting this virus. He's lost one life partner and many, many, many friends. He's a fighter and an activist and a fine human being.

And now, he is also HIV-free, according to his latest tests. He has told the family now that there is NO indication that the virus is present in his body.

Praise God! Miracles DO happen, every single day.

I hope to talk to M. soon directly to learn more about his miracle. For now, I'll be content to thank God.

Can you believe it? We humans have managed to conquer the virus before we've conquered the prejudice that came along with it. One miracle at a time, I guess.