This Splendid Day

by Glaab, Mikal

• ISBN13: 9781466374898
• ISBN10: 1466374896
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-12
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Summary

He had every disadvantage you need if you want to change the worldSo he didHe was a 14 year old throwaway on the streets of New Orleans when he met his first and only love, Adam Hannah, a romance that left him determined to be the best human being he could beAt 22 he was living on San Francisco's Nob Hill when an horrific attack took so long to heal that by the time he had, he was living on the streets again. The homeless population in the city was swelling due to a strange new disease attacking the gay community. Mikal was there, bringing them food and holding them as they died, many times in doorways or right on the sidewalk. More than a dozen had already died in his arms when a test finally became available and Mikal discovered that both he and his best friend were HIV+ He asked his friend "So, given this information, what do you want to do now?" His friend's answer "I want a splendid life." Mikal took this and used it as a tool, never again asking that question everyone dreads when they are sick: "How are you doing?" asking instead "How can we make today splendid?" a question he was one day to grow wise enough to ask himself every dayWhen his best friend died eighteen months later, it was during a week when four others Mikal cared for also passed away. The deep sorrow and survivor's guilt were finally too much and he suffered a mental breakdown.Like a phoenix, he rose with the determination that he would go to Greece and did so on a one way ticket and $75 in his pocket. A mere three months later he helped found the Center for Life, the first AIDS care agency east of Paris and then went on to go into Iraq twice to rescue Kurdish orphans who were unwanted due to deformities, something that caused Mother Teresa to call him "Child of Angels."Mikal calls this book a love letter to all the wonderful people he has known and wonderful places and events he has seen. Actually, it could as easily be simply called a love letter to life!