Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - December 7, 2006
Jaime San Felippo
About 100 people gathered Friday, December 1 - World AIDS Day - at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park to remember friends and family who have died over the years and acknowledge the fight against AIDS is long from over but remains hopeful.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of HIV/AIDS, a bittersweet occasion for those who have been witness to the disease since the beginning. One such witness is Dr. Lisa Capaldini who began her medical training in San Francisco in 1983 and has been at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic since the beginning.
"I don't think it is possible to talk about the medical issues with out addressing the social and political issues," Capaldini said during her remarks.
She spoke of the challenges of AIDS today and how they differ from those of 25 years ago. Capaldini worked at the Castro Medical Clinic in the early days and said back then "it was loss after loss after loss."
But she said that today there is hope. There is better understanding of the science of the disease and there are new drug therapies that help many people live longer, healthier lives. In the first years of the disease Capaldini said she lost about 40 patients a year but now that number is down to one or two a year.
"Back then when I met a patient with AIDS I would ask myself how long will I know this person?" Capaldini said. "Now when I meet a patient I wonder not are they going to live but are they going to live well and thrive."
According to Capaldini, now an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, the challenges people living with AIDS now face are questions of how to cope psycho-spiritually, how to approach dating, child custody issues, and questions of how to finance drugs and treatment.
Capaldini also stressed the importance of education and prevention.
"We need to make sure what happens in this grove today, in this city, goes to the state," Capaldini stated. "And what happens at the state level goes to the federal level and awareness is spread across the country in hopes that the stigma of fear is erased."
Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) also spoke at the event. He said those who have lost loved ones are fortunate to have "this green cathedral to remember all those that have passed." He spoke of the daunting numbers of AIDS cases around the world including the staggering 21.8 million people that have died around the world since 1981 and the estimated 1,000 new infections projected for San Francisco in 2007.
"There is a lot more to do," Leno said. "But we are engaged and it is within our power to influence the nation."
Dr. Abraham Verghese was the recipient of the Grove Award for Community Service. Verghese was a pioneer in the fight against AIDS in rural Johnson City, Tennessee, openly treating patients while being shunned by colleagues, condemned by his community, and even having his life threatened.
Verghese is the author of the 1994 book My Own Country , which is his personal chronicle of the epidemic.
He could not attend the event but in a letter read by his friend and colleague, Judy McCarter, he accepted the award on behalf of his patients "who were my friends that taught me about courage and about fighting for a cause and dying for one."
Attendees were also given a preview of a still-in-progress documentary about the National AIDS Memorial Grove entitled Forget Me Not by Open Eyed Productions.
It was announced that a Grove Society would be formed to ensure that the grove is maintained for years to come and the theme of healing, hope, and remembrance is preserved.
The program ended with a procession to the Circle of Friends, where the names of people who have died of AIDS are inscribed in stone. There, the names inscribed in 2006 were read by students from Community Day School.
Joan O'Keefe attended to remember a loved one. She lost her uncle, Ed Fitzgerald, to AIDS in 1990.
"He was a wonderful man," O'Keefe remembered. "He loved life. I think of him often at Christmas because we would wait for him in New York with all our presents. He was our Santa Claus."
Robert Shatz attended the commemoration to remember the many friends he has lost over the years. He has been living with AIDS since 1984.
"I got my blood work done this morning," explained Shatz. "I rode my bike to the park to be here. I'm just glad to be alive and to have the energy to enjoy such a beautiful day."
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