This month I had the opportunity to participate in the 'Stories from HIV Long-Term Thrivers' forum where I gave a spoken word performance alongside an amazing and inspiring panel. The forum was...
For many of us living with HIV and coexisting with HIV, December 1 is every day! It is a date to celebrate and a date to commemorate.
It's World AIDS Day. Again. And I find myself in the soup of emotions that comes with this day every year. Grateful. Relieved. Sad. Inspired. Frustrated. Proud. Resolved. And too many other things to...
My name is Maria Mejia and this is my story with HIV! I kept my HIV diagnosis a secret from almost everyone for nearly 20 years. Diagnosed at 18 in 1991 and contracted HIV at the age of 15 in 1988, I...
[Content warning: multiple sudden deaths, including a stillbirth] I am traumatized! I have been living in fear and my heart is so full of anxiety for no particular reason! I don't even know where to begin. The past weeks have been a very challenging and traumatizing time for me and my family.
As I, reflect, I am honored and privileged for the opportunity to be alive today. I am Grateful. This is the Here and Now. Sad to have known so many, that have not been granted this gift of aging...
I've been living with HIV for (going on) 22 years now. I almost can't believe it, seems like a lifetime ago. I was just 27 when I was lying in a hospital bed dying; my children were just babies. When...
I will be 64 next month and living with HIV for 36 years. I had a lot of illness at the beginning of my diagnosis in 1990 when I was only 39 years old. I thought I'd die soon and never see my son grow...
Yesterday as we celebrated World AIDS Day, I reflected a little bit on my own journey of having HIV living with me. I have been HIV positive for 5 years. I have been undetectable since I began...
This week I 'hacked' the #hiv2020online instagram account for 24 hours. I decided to share my 18 years journey of living with HIV in 18 posts on their storyline.