Spending Time With an Angel

I met her in the summer of 1984, she was this dark, beautiful, wonderfully tragic woman sitting in the corner of a tiny apartment on the southwest side of town, and I, like everyone else there could not help but want to be near her. I remember continually being drawn to her eyes, they were the bluest I have ever seen, and when you looked into them you knew you were in the presence of a old soul. It's funny, you meet you soulmate in the strangest of places, and when you are not really looking for them, for me it was at a time when I was far too young and immature to realize what was happening. She was the most intelligent, intuitive, and caring person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She worked in an animal hospital, and when I would go there to hang out with her it was not uncommon to find her asleep in a kennel holding an injured animal in her arms, all living things seemed to feel comfortable when she was near. We spent much of our time together playing, watching and listening to music. Once a year we would quit our jobs, fill the car with friends, beer and cheese corn and follow The Cramps around California. Every last penny went on tickets to see The Ramones, The Dickies, The Wierdo's, The Damned...She taught me to never loose my connection with nature and that The Goddess was always watching over me. Holidays will never be the same, each Christmas we would gather up our friends whose families had turned their backs on them because of how they looked, or because of who they loved. We would decorate our tree, listen to music,laugh, and from this we learned the true meaning of family. Things began to change in 1988, she began loosing weight, she slept most of the time, she did not have the energy to participate in life. The answer came in 1989 when she was diagnosed with AIDS. I can remember setting in the CSUB library reading the only thing that I could find about women with the disease, it basically said that women with AIDS were IV drug users or prostitutes and died, on average, 16 months from the time of diagnosis. Katherine Waverly Kane left this earth on November the eleventh, 1991. There will always be something missing in my life and I have learned to accept that. Because of her I find something beautiful in EVERY day, because of her I have learned to live every second of every day to it's fullest, and because of her I live life on my own terms not someone else's.
It is an honor for us to be asked to take part in The Bakersfield AIDS walk. Please join us in celebrating those who are still living, and the lives of those that we have lost. Come out and make an effort to educate yourself about this epidemic, it is not going away, 40,000,000 persons are infected world wide, and the numbers increase each day. The event is free and takes place at Beach Park (21st and Oak) on Saturday May the 14th from 9:30 am until 6:00 pm. Three Chord Whore will take the stage at 2:00 pm.... We hope to see you there.