So I’ve started working again. The night before leaving for Vegas, I was called to duty at the University of New Hampshire. To once again share the intimate details of my existence… after all the praise for My Pet Virus and holiday dinners, could I stand and deliver in 2007?
Well, I can’t really tell you. UNH made my and Gwenn’s job very easy. They rallied over 200 students for the event, and even provided dessert afterwards! That’s how you do it, baby.
Many organizations made it happen, and there was a One at UNH student group, which I thought was pretty damn cool. And quite a few Red shirts being worn, as seen below. I said, “I wish they made one that said ‘TI(RED).” To which someone said, “They do!” (A few days later in Las Vegas, I found it.)
On nights like this one last week, my positoid soul is filled. I am reminded that I can make a difference vocalizing my story with Gwenn. The good folks at UNH have prepared me for whatever lays ahead this semester– travel delays, confused gawking, the sick days when you just can’t cancel.
We got a question from one guy, who asked, “What’s your secret to happiness?” Gwenn said to find a way to do what you love, I said enjoying life a day at a time and overcoming my fears to plan for the future, which I did after my AIDS diagnosis in 1999 when I started feeling better.
We’ve never gotten that question before, and it’s nice to know that, despite “the obvious obstacles in our relationship” as read hundreds of times during our introduction over the last seven years, the basic element of why Gwenn and I are together comes through.
We couldn’t be happier.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Me and Gwenn with a few of the students at the University of New Hampshire on 1/24/07.