so this evening i got home from a movie, to get a message from my mum that my 17yr old cusin has HIV. shes been a dancer since she was 15, a drug runner and obviusly much more, as well at being "friends" with people that i would probably cross the street to avoid (not really, but you get the idea)

and now this, i used to want somthing to happen to her so that she would get knocked out of the buble she was living in. but im not sure this is what i was thinking of. i dotn even know if it will change very much for her. i called and she was at work.

i know this is scummunity, but i thought well, mostly all my friends are studying and i just needed to get it off my chest.

i know she brought it on herself, but i dont think anyone ever diservs this. especially not her family, her mom just got got through a bought of cancer, her dad has been diagnosed with diabeties and her little brother is stuck at the intelectual level of a ...6?yr old. shes turning 18 in 13 days, lucky her.

i guess i was one of those people that knew it was out there, but was oblivious really. gotta love how life knocks you over when you arnt looking.

kendra, i cant remember if i ever told you aboot my brother...sad story, my parents adopted him when he was 6weeks old and addicted to heroin...now hes 30 somthing (i dont care enough to know his actuall age)...done soo much speed and meth that hes schizophrenic, has an 18 page wrap sheet, in and out of prison/ half-way houses...always getting kicked out of good halfway houses that wanta help...diseased, and fucked in general

no sympathy....maybe it was the fact that he use to beat the living shit out of my since i was 5 or the number of guns he pulled on me and threatened to kill me....i fucking hate all people who deal drugs, do hard drugs, steal, do crime, etc...

fuck em.....my day isnt worth worrying about some asshole....and after 30 years, my parents have taken the same way of dealing with him

course, thats me and not you....i cant tell you how to deal..and don't think youre looking for advice (just venting prehaps)

My 6 year old nephew was recently diagnosed with leukemia, that's tragic.

When I was 14, one of my best friends was caught in the cross fire of corner store robbery, that was tragic.

You'r cousin's condition isn't tragic, its the logical conclusion to a bad lifestyle decision.
My 2 bits.

your right. the choices she has made landed her here. and i guess when brought on by ones self the end result isnt quite so tragic as when something beyond our control takes a life.

Don't let jg's comment lessen the tragic nature of your cousin's diagnosis. In 1991, my own cousin, a beautiful and noble man, died tragically as a consequence of his own poor lifestyle choices (he was a homosexual). To this day, I think of him all the time. Thankfully, as has been pointed out, your cousin may still enjoy a relatively normal life.