Hidden blessings

Shock and confusion swirled in Marianne Swanson’s mind. Like the garbled voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher, the words coming from the other end of the phone made no sense. The message might as well have been fiction, a simple mistake or someone else’s problem.

Her 20-month-old toddler Joshua Paul had died just a few weeks earlier from cancer. But now she was learning that a post-mortem blood test had revealed something more.

Joshua Paul had tested positive for HIV. In all likelihood, Marianne was HIV positive, too.

It was 1987, and Marianne couldn’t have been further from the profile of a typical AIDS patient. A full-time homemaker and mother living in Tucker, Marianne’s only contact with a needle involved a thread or a visit to the doctor. Most of her wine intake took place during communion at church.

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Jon Waterhouse

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