Dear HIV: I hate how my life has changed because of you. I was fine without you.

I continue on despite all the challenges and lack of funding, resources and support. I really want to achieve a life that has some peace.

I joined POZ Personals to meet other men like myself. I want a storybook happy ending into the sunset with the man of my dreams.

I want to use this as an opportunity to let other people know they will be OK. There are people out there who can help.

I lived every day for the next several years thinking I would be dead any minute.

I want to give people hope and remind them that they can make it out of their situation with help.

After struggling to find out where life was going to lead me, I found myself wanting to become an advocate for other women who are positive.

Even though it's filled with sorrow and loss, my story is also one of miracles, blessings and healing. I’m a long-term HIV/AIDS survivor.

At the dawn of the HIV/AIDS crisis, I was in the armed forces—and newly diagnosed with HIV. Thirty years later, I am thriving.

I made it my goal to share my story with other girls so they don’t have to follow the destructive path I was once on.