(Continued from Snowbirds, part one)

I was well aware of the U.S. policy that anyone suspected of being HIV positive would be turned back at the border. Therefore I was a bundle of nerves and nauseous in the backseat of my father-in-law's car. All 97 lbs of me was wrapped up in Gordon's winter coat. Joe said "let me do all the talking. Only talk if they ask you a question".

The suspense was killing me. I had been worrying about this since the day I found out I was going. Just before I had left for Florida, my HIV specialist had enrolled me in a drug trial.Previous to this I had thrown my meds in the garbage convinced that they wouldn't work for me either. But... I figured Gordon would want me to give it my best shot. So I gave in. Keep in mind that was '96 and he had been ill three years prior to the new Antiviral drugs that came out. My combination was AZT, Squinivair and DDI. Three times a day, one hour before or two hours after meals.

Florida! I am so happy to be here! First thing, I met the snowbirds (no, not the the ones who fly jets) but a wonderful exuberant bunch of seniors.We played cards, barbequed and one lady showed me how to make a 5x5 inch dress shirt out of five American one dollar bills. It even had a collar. One of the other ladies took me under her wing and told me she was taking me to the straw market. I bought so much stuff - including a set of luggage - that I had to pay $20.00 at the airport because I was over my limit lol.

I ignored the fact that I shouldn't be out in the direct sunlight as one of the med bottles had stated. I soon started to experience strange occurrences with my vision.Walking into the grocery store I notice the words such as Specials, Produce or ice cream would appear to me like this: S e ials,P duce, ce cre m.When I looked at a person the only way I could describe it was... you know on t.v. when they try to hide a persons identity by blurring their face? I was horrified. Later it changed to a shattered glass effect.Lori suggested we go get a drink and sit before we drove home. It seemed to pass and I was able to get us back to the trailer park.

Disneyland was a blast. But my most devastating moment came at the Florida state fair. Joe had wandered off to look in the agriculture building. Lori wanted to sit down and rest a moment so I told her I would be right back and I slipped back to a booth we had passed earlier.Waiting and watching the boisterous young man trying to coax people to let him guess there age or weight. I figured no way would he guess my weight. I was wearing Joe's jacket (because of the weight loss I was feeling cold.) " 97 LBS" says the carnie in front of me. "No way,"  I said,  "I weigh 99lbs!" He replied, "well let's see - get on the scale."

Slowly I return to Lori fighting back the tears."What happened?" Lori asks. I admit to her what I did. She tried to assure me that things would be okay and off we went to see what had Joe's attention.The rest of my trip went by quickly and soon I am back home watching the video of the auction where the chair we calibrated was sold for $75.00. the money donated to my ASO.

CM