San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 4, 2006

Two of the most vibrant, amazing people I will ever know lost their lives to this disease. Watching that happen and knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it was devastating. AIDS didn't touch my life -- it obliterated almost 10 years of it.

Richard Goldman, San Francisco:

The day I tested HIV positive in 1985, my world changed forever. Most of my peers and friends died. Our government stalled research while people dropped like flies. The best of humanity also surfaced in the care and compassion of the San Francisco model of care.

Erik Wilson, San Francisco:

I lost a number of friends, acquaintances and co-workers in the '80s and '90s. Losing so many friends before they had a chance to grow old made me realize how precious life is and made me value the people I love even more. There are buildings in San Francisco -- where some of those friends once lived -- that I can't see without feeling sadness and regret at their passing.

Marietta Crane, San Francisco:

During the 1970s, the majority of my roommates, and thus my social circle, were gay men. By the end of the 1980s, my gay male friends had dwindled from close to 100 to fewer than 10. It was traumatic to watch so many friends die, and it left me very lonely. But I've recovered during the past 15 years, and my life is now full of new friends.

Rob Wilson, Livermore:

Considering the wonderful recreational sex of the '70s, it sure turned the '80s into this bleak, monogamous, condom-laden decade for non-intravenous-drug-using heterosexuals.

Paul Holtz, San Francisco:

It has made me angry and mistrustful of government, saddened over the people lost and for those left behind, and acutely aware of my own mortality. I'm gay, yet have almost no gay friends, largely for fear that they'll die. It's irrational, and it is awful.

Norman Fong, San Francisco:

I officiated at the funeral of an old friend who died from AIDS. He was my partner in a Chinatown summer program where we took care of over 30 kids in the late '60s. From that moment on, AIDS became a personal reality, versus something that happens to "other people from a different community." It has changed my view of family, civil rights and theology. Next week, members of our church will join the AIDS Ride and of course, many church folk participate in the AIDS Walk. But I still remember that quiet funeral in the '80s when folks couldn't even talk about it.

Reg Bronner, Oakdale:

The son of close friends is HIV positive. He is a great guy and has weathered this infirmity with dignity and humor. I really don't know if I could have this much courage in the face of this disease.

Steve Travers, San Anselmo:

In the 25 years I have known of AIDS, I have never known a straight person who got the disease. It affects the society I live in but has never touched my personal world.

Rex Prather, Moss Beach:

In 1987 my business partner and family friend died of AIDS. He went fast. They didn't have the medicines they have now. Three years later, his longtime mate -- the doctor who signed my daughter's birth certificate -- also succumbed to AIDS. Sad situation.

Van Pittsenbargar, San Francisco:

Co-workers and friends are gone, due to an epidemic that might have been treated in a more timely manner had our administration taken notice in the early '80s, instead of totally ignoring it. The commander in chief at that time wouldn't even utter the word AIDS.

Irene Nexica, Oakland:

In 1986 I was a volunteer on a LGBT crisis line in Berkeley. The effect of having so many friends and people I knew dying around me in my early 20s contrasted acutely with my youthful sense of invincibleness and the belief that I knew it all. I lost an inspiring mentor from high school. He was the first out gay man I knew in high school. He worked in costume design and went on to win an Emmy for work on Sesame Street. I miss you, David.

*Two Cents is a pool of Bay Area residents we tap for comments and anecdotes. Columns are a representative sampling of responses to questions we pose via e-mail. To join, e-mail us at twocents@sfchronicle.com

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