Aids Patient Realizes Dream
The assignment came from the hospital communications department with a note and a short call. A long time Aid’s patient of Community Medical Center, who contracted Aid’s at birth, was going to try on her wedding dress at a local bridal boutique. In my mind, memories of a black and white photo-story I saw in a magazine about an Aids patient dying in a hospital ward, clashed with a vision of a dove-white wedding dress levitating in a hospital hallway. My daydream faded when I saw a gold ornate floor-length mirror as I entered the boutique. I envisioned the bride looking at herself, outwardly inward, going back and forth in time, transported by Chantilly lace and pearls. Something happens when a bride-to-be tries on a wedding dress for the very first time. I can’t explain it, but I’ve seen it. A wave of emotions washes over her as she arrives at the destination of the inner pilgrimage to her heart. Her face and body language reveal an affirmation of demarcation crossing one finish line and heading to the next.
I felt Kassidy’s presence before I saw her. She had an inner and outward beauty, which raced like two horses, their manes flowing, as she walked into the boutique. Graceful is the word that came to mind when I introduced myself and gave her a hug. She was handed a dress to try on with the help of her auntie. I positioned myself adjacent to the mirror where I would see Kassidy peer at her reflection. I waited. Kassidy floated from the dressing room to the mirror, click, and laughed, click, and teared up, click. I saw this young lady who lived her whole life with Aids, resplendent, and hopeful. Many doctors, nurses, family and friends supported and helped to catalyze this ebullient and strong young woman. As Kassidy sat after hugging her auntie, I saw the tattoo on her arm. ‘Strength’ it said and I thought it more of a statement rather than a reminder. Strength is her story, battling aids, finding love, living her life, and it exudes with a confident exclamation point!
