Numbing Medicine

"Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day."
— Frances Hesselbein

Change is the theme of this blog and rightly so. Change is something people have a hard time dealing with. We get set in our ways and stunt our growth as a society. This is what I'd like to talk about.

As a young girl I loved playing "Boys chase Girls" on the playground. One day I was running full speed ahead with an enemy (a boy) inching up ever so close behind me into the safe zone (girls bathroom) when I tripped and fell right at the entrance just as the door was closing. As would be my luck my leg became the door stop and I was stuck with the door on my leg and that same leg being pulled by the boys and my arms being pulled by the girls. With in a second I realized my leg was NOT okay, in fact it hurt, a lot! So I screamed for my fellow classmates to let me go and as the did and the door opened we found the source to my pain. A gashing hole all the way to my bone. I needed stitches.

Fall back a few days before this incident. I was told a story in church that back when the pioneers got hurt they didn't have pain medicine to relieve their discomfort. It had to do with the lesson I was being taught although I don't remember much of it but I do remember not thinking much about it maybe just a "oh, that's to bad" sort of thought, but not much after that.

When my teacher saw the hole she made a comment that put fear into me. "It's deep enough that you are going to have to get stitches". Never having had stitches I could only think the worst! I just knew it was going to hurt!

But it didn't. In fact, I didn't feel a thing. Because they gave me a shot to numb the pain.

See medicine progressed from the pioneer days to the day of my incident and how thankful I was that it had!

And so I wish this same progression and continued allegiance to finding a cure for the HIV virus. Sure we have medicine that will help our loved ones live longer but we haven't found a cure.

It's still a serious disease. One not to be taken lightly or overlooked.

As a mother I don't want to have to worry about it for my children. I want their to be progression... I want their numbing medicine.

As a sister of someone with the HIV virus I want people to continue to find a cure.

It shouldn't be pushed in the background to fade as something unimportant because they have merely found a way to help those with the virus live longer.

Medicine should continue to progress until we have found a cure so that we can look back to this time as the "pioneer days".

So as the quote says, we must transform our culture by working together everyday to make our voice heard... to shout as loud as we can that HIV needs a cure!

Progression is my numbing medicine.

love,

A Mother and Sister who cares enough for change.