On an otherwise average Thursday in January, 1992 my life was forever and irrevocably changed by an AIDS diagnosis. It was just two months before my thirty-second birthday and I was convinced that I would never see thirty-three.

In March of this year I celebrated my fortieth birthday. People who are unaware of my diagnosis couldn't understand why I was so elated to be turning forty; this was a time when a lot of people begin to lie about their age.

I embraced being forty and celebrated with a lavish party. Members of my immediate family were there as well as most of my "sisters" form Women At Risk. It was a truly joyous occasion!

My introduction to W.A.R was life-changing for me, and only in the most positive and powerful way. Being able to share my fears, my hopes and my dreams with other women who are living with this disease has enriched the quality of my life in a way I could only have imagined. Over the years we have laughed, cried, grieved together on a level that only women can.

Soon after becoming a client, I started volunteering in the office... I'd answer phones, sometimes taking calls from newly diagnosed women who needed to hear that an AIDS diagnosis didn't have to mean an automatic death sentence. Some of them I subsequently met at my support group... others I never even knew their real names. That is the beauty of Women At Risk; it has, and always will offer it's clients whatever level of confidentiality they feel is necessary.