I walk for my friend Rick, who until 2019 was my slow-walking companion nearly every AIDS Walk -- I was slow because I had small children; he was slow because he'd been on an experimental early drug for AIDS that weakened him but helped him survive.

We talked a lot about what it takes to try to do good in the world when you're really feeling the limits of your capability. I was star-struck that he'd worked on the AIDS Quilt: it was the first time I'd really noticed an act of protest as a child, and it filled me with sadness and anger. I may not fully have understood it, but it shaped me nonetheless.

Rick passed away a few years ago, but I think of him often, especially when I'm engaged in activism work. The work may be hard, and the goal far away, but there's always joy in finding your community and caring for each other there.

This isn't a walk to raise money to fund research or bring forward miracles; it's walk to care for each other. There are incredibly effective treatments for managing HIV and AIDS, but not everyone who needs them can access them, and sometimes the medication is only a small part of what's needed. GMHC provides care, support, and community, and those things are what will truly see us through to ending AIDS.