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This story is quickly becoming a labor of love for me. HIV and AIDS issues are near and dear to my heart for a lot of reasons, and the world at large has become so complacent toward the disease that millions of people are infected each year and no one but NPR is talking about it. In countries such as Africa, China, and India, AIDS is racing through the population at a frightening speed. Here in the United States, infection rates among teenagers are skyrocketing. something has to be done, and something has to be done now. If the 1980's were the wakeup call this country needed to talk about diseases like this, then we went back to sleep once Bush (2) took office. We can't sit blindly by and let our leaders allow an entire generation to die.
Death is not the greatest loss in life; the greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. ~ Dr. Norman Cousins
Light My Candle Chapter One: Revelations RATING: MATURE
This was their little secret. They didn’t dare to tell their parents about what was happening, what had been happening since the middle of their junior year. This kind of thing was what got the family shut out from all aspects of the community. No one talked about the gay children. Especially the children. So, right now, it was two young women, sliding out of clothes and coaxing each other toward orgasm as they lost their virginity in a way that the straight girls would never understand. Right now, it was three weeks to graduation and CJ was going to Berkley and Melissa to Yale and they knew they’d never see each other again. So right now, Blister in the Sun played in the background, and somewhere a dog started barking, and the cat was pacing. And neither girl heard the door open downstairs.
Light My Candle Chapter Two: The Jackal RATING: MATURE
He watched her stumble over the words in the same place she always did. She did it for the comedic effect, and it worked, and he laughed and forced himself to keep from crying. He’d been watching The Jackal since day one, and no one understood why it was so sacred to him. This was CJ, his sister, his best friend and every time she did this, it meant she was living her life on her terms. He never thought about it, never. Except every moment of every day.
Light My Candle Chapter Three: Shadows RATING: MATURE
“No.” Sydney grabbed the letter and skimmed it. Cases like this were all over the news but she honestly hadn’t thought twice about it. CJ was in perfect health. But here it was, telling them that CJ had been the recipient of blood possibly infected with HIV. “No, this … you’re fine. I mean, it’s been four years since the accident. You’ve never shown any sign of being sick. This is just a formality. We’ll go down to the clinic and get you tested.” But as she sat there, holding the letter, their life flashed before her eyes. CJ had been sick, more than once. There were fevers that spiked rapidly and kept her in bed for days, she slept all the time, and it took her forever to recover from even the simplest cold. Why hadn’t they thought of this before? “You’re okay, Sweetie.” She put down the letter. “Really, you have to be.” When she looked up, she saw shadows.
Light My Candle Chapter Four: Virginia RATING: MATURE
“Why not? I mean, people who oppose doctor assisted suicide are always telling you to think of your family, think of the pain … all I know is that when I get sick, Sydney gets this look in her eyes, like she’s counting how many times we’ve said “I love you” to each other in our lives together, just incase it isn’t enough. Terry held out until the end. He was on life support and his brain was gone and the cancer had eaten away at every organ in his body, but he held out because he couldn’t stand to …” she caught her breath, and caught herself. Leaning back into the chair again, she closed her eyes and pressed shaking fingers against her forehead. “He couldn’t stand to hurt his family by ending his life with some dignity. I’m going to die, someday. Sooner rather than later. Why should I put Sydney through that painful end?”
Light My Candle Chapter Five: Sacrament RATING: MATURE
The older woman advanced on her daughter, her leather face flashing with anger. “Don’t you dare be using that word in relation to her. You are my daughter and I pray every day for your soul, but she … she is not your wife! Mindy, she’s about to be a wife, I am a wife to your father but … her… she is not a wife! And neither are you! I don’t know what you are, but you aren’t married and don’t you dare try to tell me otherwise! This is reality, Sydney, not some liberal, hippie dream that the people in California put into your brain!”
Light My Candle Chapter Six: Manchester Snows RATING: MATURE
Sydney sighed softly as she came into the house. She knew CJ was home, she could see the briefcase by the door, the heels kicked off in that moment of anger, the jacket tossed over the banister rail. The silence of their home didn’t fool her for an instant as she walked up the stairs, coming to a stop in the doorway to their bedroom. The lights were off, only the glow from the hall cast any illumination into the room and onto the bed.