Motley Moose – Archive

I did this last year, but I think everyone is in need of some inspirational stuff, and I’m going to try to spread some good feelings around.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly had better years. But I’ve been trying to think about helping others who need it, as a way of getting out of my own space. I do the Hill Country Ride for AIDS every year, because the agencies it benefits help people out every day. They have a food bank, for people who really need it – and people with AIDS have to be very mindful about nutrition, about the timing, and what they eat…. so there are people who counsel about that. There’s legal assistance, medical subsidies, volunteers to drive people to appointments….. Just help, that their clients really need.

So I was thinking about why. Why help? What do I get out of it? I did some searching, and the results of my quest are below the squiggly thing. Of course, if you want to skip the inspirational quotes, the video & the U2 song, you could donate at my Hill Country Ride page now.

Oh – and a picture. Here’s a picture from the year I was top fundraiser (not gonna happen this year, I’m very late getting started this year), but anyway:

My brother Reid, the man I am caregiver for, told me the other day that he was gay. I have known it for a long, long time. He tried coming out once before but experienced so much pressure from the family that he decided he was mistaken. It was especially hard for the youngest brother to accept. They were very close. Jerry is a hard core right wing born again Christian. He and I have clashed many, many times over the years. We may be clashing again over this.

Reid sent a message to Jerry this morning telling him. He tried to call but couldn’t get a clear connection. He hasn’t heard one word back. I can tell he is hurting and trying to hide it. That in turns hurts me.

Reid and I don’t always see eye to eye and we were estranged for many years. It took the sudden death of our brother Mike to bring us back together. Mike’s death reconnected Jerry and I but not as closely as it did Reid and I.

In the late 90s I was in a marriage from hell. My therapist told me to get out of the abusive marriage but be careful because my husband might try to kill me if I left him. Having experienced his driving when he was mad at me I can well believe that my life was in danger. I know California law required a therapist to warn someone if they feel that person is in danger from someone they are counseling.

A gay couple moved me across the country into their home until I could get on my feet. If I had stayed in California I would be forever looking over my shoulder. I am alive because of them.

That move to the Midwest gave me the opportunity to be caregiver to my Mom for six years. I tried to help my brother Mike and moved down to North Carolina to be near his daughter and grandchildren. He was supposed to join me. Instead the demons of Vietnam finally destroyed him. I cleaned up his financial mess and cleaned and sold my parent’s house.

I moved Reid out here when I realized how sick he had become. I was shocked when I saw him for the first time in years. He looks 20 years older than me and I’m seven and a half years older than he is. He is in a wheelchair now. We are constantly seeing doctors and therapists and nurses trying desperately to get him some more control over his wasted body. He was in the hospital for a week after collapsing. He is in constant pain. If he is rejected by family and friends he will be in even more pain.

I can cope with giving him sponge baths, cleaning him after he uses the portable commode, cleaning out urinals, picking him up literally when he falls, feeding him, checking his blood sugars, helping him take his insulin, getting him in and out of the car, all that is doable. What is going to be rough is if he is cut off by someone he loves.

I have hugged him and told him I love him and I think he is very brave. I am here to be his caregiver because two gay men rescued me when my life was in danger. I owe it to them to help others and especially those in the LGBT community who have so much hate thrown at them.

Reid says he thinks Jerry is going to blame this all on me. Let him. I’m a caregiver. I can handle anything.

 

This diary is about my fundraising effort for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, but if you know me, you know that I usually use music in these diaries, so:

So, U2 is out with a new song & if you download it during the “Big Game” & 24 hours after, it is free & a donation goes to Red, which goes to fighting AIDS in Africa.

(RED) ‏@RED 32m

You’ve got until Feb 3 11:59pm EST to download #NewU2Song free & $1 goes to fight AIDS w/ @RED http://smarturl.it/Connect4Red  pic.twitter.com/9wzlLGzunB

and now on to me talking about the Ride, and enjoying some music – although if you want to skip the diary & just donate to help people with HIV & AIDS in Austin, here’s my Hill Country Ride page

So I have a milestone birthday on Saturday. And it is time to start training for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which will be in April. And fundraising for it, too. So for my 50th birthday — can I get the Mooses to donate to my 15th Ride? How many $50 donations can I get? There will be music & stuff below the fold, but if you want to skip that part & just donate, here’s my Hill Country Ride page

I just came home from AIDS Walk Austin & it was fantastic. I got to meet Cleve Jones, the man who started the Quilt – what an inspiration! And I wore a crown – people who raised over $1,000 were given crowns. There aren’t many of us who have done the Walk all 26 years, but 2 of us carried the Walk banner in the last 2 blocks. Come below the fold to see pictures.

I was logging out of the AIDS Walk Austin site, after thanking the donors from Friday’s amazing donations, when I saw this statement from AIDS Services of Austin:

This year’s sequestration means ASA is losing $78,000. And we need YOU to help us meet our goals in order to maintain the high standard of care we offer in Central Texas.

Wow. Lost in all the talk about the shutdown & the potential default has been the disaster that is the sequester. Come below the fold for more on why you should donate to this cause.

AIDS Walk Austin is 10 days away, on Sunday the 20th. The Walk as a whole has raised about $84,000 of their $225,000 goal. Which is not close enough. Yeah, there’s still 10 days, and I’m no mathematician, but that’s a heck of a lot of money to raise per day.

This day, Friday, they have a challenge. If the Walk as a whole can raise $5,000 that will be matched. Come with me below the fold and I’ll tell you why you should donate.

The first 25 donations of “at least” $100 are matched today, so today would be a great one to make a sizable donation. AIDS Walk Austin is in less than a month – on Sunday the 20th. I’ve only raised 14% of my (admittedly crazy high) goal of $5,000, so I thought I’d share some music & ask for donations. I’d kinda like to make it to at least one thousand dollars, even if five thousand is out of reach. If you want to skip the U2 song & my babbling, you can make a donation at my AIDS Walk Austin page. This is the 26th year for the Walk & my 26th year of walking it, and I really want step things up this year. And here’s me, talking about why I’ve walked every year of the Walk:

I don’t know if people know how easy it is to make a really big difference. Here’s some of the ways your donations help. And if that’s not enough to get you to visit my AIDS Walk Austin page, below the orange fleur de lis, I pull out the big guns — stories about the people who have been helped.

$35 covers one rapid HIV rest – we know that 40% of HIV+ people don’t know it yet. Through testing, we can get them into life saving care, and further reduce the spread of the virus.

$60 pays for a one month supply of medical prescriptions. Medications can reduce the virus so much that it keeps someone healthy and also reduces the risk of passing it along.

$120 provides education for 440 people. Education is one of the most important tools in reducing new infections.

$250 provides 3 family counseling sessions. It can be devastating for a family when a member is diagnosed, and we know that an intact family unit promotes health and provides a built in support.

$500 provides a month of rent for one family in supportive housing. Assistance with food, daily chores, trips to medical appointments and social support create a foundation for continued health and a step toward independence.

$1,000 gives 450 home cooked meals for hospice patients. When in hospice, there are often unique food needs. You can make sure that final days are spent with delicious food that doesn’t upset someone’s stomach.

So those are the wonderful things that your donations to AIDS Walk Austin can do. I know that cash is hard to come by these days & everyone is asking for some. Well, so am I. Please donate if you can, here’s my AIDS Walk Austin page.

Austin’s Pride Parade is this Saturday. Our Pride events were moved to September a couple of years ago, so the UT students will be in town, and also it is usually less drastically hot now than June. It starts at 8, if you’re interested in coming. I’ll be with a group from my church, in orange “Love Your Neighbor” shirts. There’s a group of welcoming churches, we’re going to make a rainbow with ourt shirts, my church is orange. Here’s the link for parade info: http://www.austinpride.org/#!p…