I have worn it nearly every day for over five years. It's become a part of me, like a wedding ring might be to some, or a tattoo to others.

It's a silver bracelet. On one side it bears the logo of a raised ribbon. An engraving on the inside says "Until There's A Cure."

It's 2001, and there is still no cure for AIDS.

* * *

I am old enough to remember the first news reports about AIDS (or GRIDS, as they were calling it back in 1981), and young enough that casual sex was never safe. My friends and I watched films like Longtime Companion and Philadelphia, read Paul Monette's books in college, and got to know people who were HIV positive. It has been a part of our consciousness for twenty years now.

And still, in 2001, there is no cure.

* * *

Two years ago I met a Nicaraguan woman. She was beautiful and vibrant, which more than made up for the language barrier we faced at the dinner table. One day she had gotten a phone call from her ex-husband back home, telling her that she might want to get tested for AIDS - he had tested positive, and it was from an affair he'd had before the end of the marriage.

She got tested, and was positive, and is now being treated in America.

Whenever someone calls AIDS a "gay disease," or says it could never happen to them, I think of her.

She is still alive, and she is doing well. But there is still no cure.

* * *

Every December 1st is World AIDS Day, an effort to remind people that the disease still exists, still runs rampant among us, still takes people away every day. Over the years the occasion has evolved from Day Without Art to Day Without Weblogs to the current Link and Think campaign. Over 625 writers are participating in this year's observance. We try to provide information, to tell our stories, to remind others.

It's a small thing to do, but we do it. Because there is still no cure.

* * *

Last month, a cashier pointed to my bracelet and said she had just bought one for her daughter. A few weeks before that, a man at a club put his arm next to mine, and we looked down at the identical bracelets on our wrists. More and more people wear the bracelet. More and more people are becoming aware of the devastating impact of AIDS.

I love this bracelet. But I would love nothing more than to be able to put it away in a drawer, as a historic curiosity. For now, though, I keep wearing it. And I keep reminding people, and participating in the online campaign.

Because there is still no cure.

* * *

Jinnet
http://w3.one.net/~jedi