01/12/2023
33 years ago, I worked behind the bar of a pub in Brighton. A total stranger asked me to go for lunch with him...I said "no thanks, you're not my type!" He said he wasn't trying to hit on me, then he rolled up his sleeve to show me something...a tattoo...it had his date of birth, then it had a hyphen and the numbers '198_' ...the last digit was missing...?!
He told me he would not make it to 1990 and that he was ill, all he was asking of me was to go for lunch, then he said "I have nobody...my family and all of my friends have disowned me, I only want to buy you lunch and to ask a favour of you....I want you to go into a shop and choose something that you like, it doesn't matter how much it costs...as long as you promise to keep it"
I agreed, I realised this meant so much to him so we went for lunch, a bohemian book shop with a cafe, I had a slice of quiche and salad and a can of coke...nothing fancy! But I remember exactly what I had, where it was, etc.
Then we went into a small shop where I was told to get something of any value...I chose a small glass vase (pictured) it cost £7 but it has become priceless. Here's why...
I never ever saw him again...but to this day...I keep my promise, he had said to me "I want you to look at this vase every now and then, and just remember me...I don't want to die knowing that nobody will ever think of me"
Today is World AIDS Day...thankfully, advances have been made, yet there is still a long way to go...we remember those that lost their lives...
I remember Kevin , Russ, Chris, Dougie and all the others who ‘went home’ ❤️
