Friday, August 23, 2013

My mother speaks

So many of you know that I do the work that I do, or at least I got into HIV research, because my mother had HIV and in fact died due to complications resulting from AIDS in 1999. Its why I walk in the AIDS walk here every year, and why most of my charity goes to science and specifically HIV research. I am not sure if I have ever written about this, if not, I probably should sometime, although today is not the day for that.

However, I did want to share something with you - a video of my mother speaking about the role of medical marijuana in helping her deal with the health effects of both HIV and anti-retroviral drugs (in the 1990's many of the anti-retrovirals were much harsher than they are today). For me it is incredible moving and strange to watch my mother speak, both because I am seeing it from such a different perspective (not her son so much as an HIV and drug researcher) and because it has been 14 years since she died and it is somewhat difficult to accept how much of her I have forgotten.

Anyway, here is the video (which was lovingly and carefully restored through the efforts of a close family friend, Jane Marcus, as well as many other people) - it is currently being disseminated to different groups as support for legalizing medical marijuana.

1 comment:

Dan said...

How strange and wonderful to find this video and hear Susan again. I also cannot believe it's been 14 years. I know she would be more proud of you today than ever.