Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One held a photo of her son Richard Douglas Smith - dark-haired, bearded, standing atop Mill Mountain. He was 29 when he died two years ago, she said.
The other held a photo of son Jeffrey Lee Smith. He was musical, good-humored, a "wild thing," Link said. He died last year at 33.
Both men had AIDS.
"I just appreciate the time I had with my boys before they died," said Link, of Roanoke. "I would not take anything for that time. I never worry about them, because they are together."
Link and daughter-in-law Tanya Smith - who had been married to Richard - carried the photos Thursday as they walked with more than 100 others from the Roanoke City Market to the American Red Cross office on Church Avenue to commemorate World AIDS Day.
"They're the biggest part of this day," said Link, touching the photos' glass fronts. "Why shouldn't they be here with us?"
Link doesn't understand people's fears, their reluctance to learn about the disease. Are they afraid, she asked, that they might contract it from the pages of a book or pamphlet?
"People think this will not affect them, particularly the younger folks," Link said. "They think they're invincible. But they're no different from anybody else."
"These were two beloved human beings, and they're gone," she said, waving a hand toward the photos. "Who would have thought?"
The Roanoke Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross teamed with the AIDS Council of Western Virginia, the Southwest Regional AIDS Resource and Consultation Center, the Roanoke AIDS Project and the Roanoke Health Department to take part in a national observance intended to enlighten and educate.
The day's observance began with a walk of remembrance through downtown Roanoke. A family gathering followed at the Red Cross office, highlighted by the decorating of white pillowcases in memory of family and friends who had died of the disease.
"I'm so concerned about the number of folks who don't know about this disease, for the folks in the community who don't seem to [accept] that this is a community issue," said Dr. Molly Rutledge, medical director of the Alleghany Health District.
"I challenge folks who know less about HIV and this disease to learn. I challenge young people to encourage their friends and themselves to be tested whenever they think they may have been infected. I challenge all of us as we go through this Advent season to hold on to the promise that things will continue to improve."
Diane Jackson used a paint pen to add the name of her cousin - Rodney Hugh Hairston - to a pillowcase covered with a dozen others.
"His funeral was today at 11 o'clock," Jackson said. "I could have attended, but I chose not to because I wanted to remember him as I last saw him."
Opposite Jackson was a display of artwork. A photo of a young man rested in the middle of the sketches, clothing and paintings.
Gary Clayton Baker, a Roanoke native, died in San Francisco two years ago of AIDS. He was 31.
"He's buried here in Roanoke," his sister, Vicki Brown, said. "I didn't get to go to his funeral, because I chose to stay out in San Francisco with him until he died. I had to choose between going to the funeral and taking care of him. I stayed out there and took care of him, got him ready to send him home."
The display of his artwork was, in a way, the show Baker would have had if he had lived a few months longer, Brown said.
"We feel that this is Gary's Roanoke showing," she said. "The Roanoke Valley can see his work. I feel like the heavenly father has sent this gift to us to honor my brother, who was a wonderful, loving person. I'll miss him forever."
At Ruffner Middle School in Roanoke, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders were frank when questioning a group of speakers from the Red Cross and the Roanoke AIDS Council about HIV and AIDS.
Can you get AIDS from kissing? Can you get AIDS by biting someone with AIDS? Can you catch it through oral sex? Can a bisexual get AIDS?
The answers were equally as frank. And Deneen Evans, counselor/case manager for the Roanoke Adolescent Health Partnership, preferred that the young people receive the most accurate, complete information possible.
Often, what students receive through the family life curriculum in the schools is "watered down," Evans said.
"They're still not hearing what they should," she said.
Students released 600 red balloons at about 12:30 p.m. On each, students wrote the name of someone with HIV or AIDS - a family member, friend or celebrity.
"We're taking this real seriously," Evans told the students. "We're thinking about what it means - showing concern for loved ones and friends, and that we will not turn our backs on anyone."
John Ballou of Botetourt County talked to a cafeteria filled with Ruffner sixth-graders about his son's death in 1990 of AIDS.
"How did your son get AIDS?" one student asked.
Ballou explained his son's drug and alcohol habits, how he had gone into a treatment program but relapsed. How he had shared needles and had at one time received a blood transfusion.
"He didn't know how he got it," Ballou said. "And it really doesn't matter.
"When your son calls and says he's sick and going to die, you take care of him."
by CNB