Anthony E. Sis
Open Letter to Louisito
Dear Uncle Louis,
It’s been over six years since you’ve been gone. If you were still alive you’d be 48 years old at this point. Me? I’m now 20. I’m no longer a rising teen from the last time you wrote to me telling me you’d come visit me from Atlanta someday. Fortunately I met you before you passed away but your existence will always be tattooed in my heart. You’re not just a memory, you’re a piece of me that has been scarred by the disease you carried in your bloodstream. I miss you now more than ever. Because of you I’ve learned to carry more compassion for others. Because of you I’ve learned that no matter how crappy life gets at time, there’s always hope. Because of you I’ve actually bothered to educate myself and others about sexual health and properly maintain it. Because of you I am where I’m at today, and it deeply saddens me that I’ll never be able to tell you this in person…
Wherever you are resting right now, I just want you to know that I love you and I miss you. Everytime I talk about you, HIV/AIDS, or anything else I always trace my steps back to the first time I met you. I just recently found an image of you and I when we first met- the only picture we have together. This image is the one tattooed in my heart and soul. It’s just one of those things that is simply irreplaceable. I wouldn’t be here where I’m at without your presence in my life and because of that, I will never forget you. And even though you felt isolated and abandoned by loved ones, I’ll make sure you never feel abandoned by my work and efforts to educate others about the disease you carried for so many years. I love you Uncle Louis. Cuidate…
