There once was a boy....

     There once was a boy from Southern Minnesota who dreamed of a life full of love and happiness, health and wealth.  He was loved by his family.  He had a happy home and although the family was not rich, he had all he needed and then a bit more.  He was cute, sweet, smart and had dreams of making something of his future, with a life full of love and travel and happiness.
    The boy grew into a man.  One by one, his dreams started to come true.  He found out who he was.  He found true love.  He found that he could have a life away from his family but still feel the love and support of those who had known him since his birth.  He found he could be a success.  He began to travel the world with the man he loved along as a guide to show him the way. 
    All went well until one spring day a short time before the man's 41st birthday,  Then the world changed.  HIV and AIDS entered the man's life and all came to a crashing halt, nearly ending his life  and his dreams for good.  Pain and suffering became the new normal for the man.  But slowly, the man began to recover from near death.  Slowly, the shadow of the grim reaper faded into the sunshine of a new life and with new dreams.  After much trial and struggle, with the love and support of a wonderful man, loving family and concerned friends, the man's dreams one by one returned.
     Life was no longer what the boy from Southern Minnesota had once dreamed it would be.  Pain and struggles were part of  his new life after near death.  Daily routines had changed forever.  Dreams were more difficult but still they lived on.  The man became stronger and for him, life became much more meaningful, nothing was taken for granted.  Love meant more, breath was a bit sweeter, sunshine a bit brighter and the partner, lover and husband who had inspired the man's dreams continued to stand strong at his side, guiding and helping him to reach once again for the dreams he thought he had lost.
     And finally, the once little boy from Southern Minnesota realized that all along his dreams had been true.  He had always lived a life that many would only ever dream of, a life of love and happiness.  A life of health and wealth.  HIV, AIDS and all the pain and suffering that goes with it will never, can never take that little boy's dreams away.