Lesson from a dying friend
...as been diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, and I tested positive for the HIV virus”. I felt like someone had just kicked me in the stomach. I just kept thinking to myself “this can’t be real, I must be dreaming”. I started to cry when I thought about their children, a son (from a previous marriage), and a daughter, which they had together. I could barely bring myself to ask the question. Had the little girl been tested and what were the results? Thankfully, Debbie told us that both children had been tested and both results were negative for the HIV virus. Debbie proceeded to tell us how the doctors said that Tab must have contracted the disease from a previous heterosexual relationship, as the virus can lay dormant for up to 10 years before turning into full-blown AIDS. Over the next few months, I watched, with much admiration, as my friend forgave her husband for giving her this disease, and as he gave his life to God. Together they accepted their fate and praised the Lord in spite of it all. They often spoke to me of their faith and how it gave them the strength they needed to get through each day. Tab died in the fall of 1993, six days before his 34th birthday and a month after Debbie was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS. I remember her telling me, “He was ready to go. He wasn’t bitter. Before he died he told me, ‘Honey, we reap what we sow and before I was saved I did a lot of sowing. Satan can do anything he wants but he can’t take away my salvation.’” I think these words will stick with me for the rest of my life. Debbie died almost two years later, at the age of 32, but before her death she was able to complete her will and make arrangements for her parents to raise their children. Not a day went by in the two years after Tab’s death that I didn’t visit with her. We would sit and reminisce of our friendship. Of course we cried a lot too, but I was usually the one who broke down first. She once comforted me by sayi...