Article July 22, 2002 Issue

I felt comfortable coming back to God

By Sifredo Reyes

I Was Diagnosed HIV-positive on June 24, 1988—on a Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. From that point on, I went into a hole of emotions. And what made it worse was that a good friend of mine had been diagnosed with HIV in January of that year and died in November. I just didn't have much hope. And at that time there wasn't any medication for HIV symptoms.

At that time, I was working for a company in Los Angeles that made brake pads. Fortunately, I was able to continue working, and by 1990 I was a quality controller, involved in all steps of the manufacturing process—from the lab work and testing of the raw materials to driving a test car in the city and in controlled environments. I loved my job. In 1994, the company relocated to Kentucky. I had worked for them for ten years. And by this time I had become very ill.

So not only was I coping with the HIV diagnosis (by this time medications were on the market for HIV, and I was taking them), but I was also feeling deeply depressed over losing work I had been very attached to. I felt that everything was going down the drain—it was a very negative point in my life.

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