Hi there. So most of my diaries are about the AIDS Walk or the AIDS Ride. And they all have U2 videos — this one will, too. But the title comes from a song from a different band. Shocking, I know. But the man who wrote it said this is the song he’s proudest of in his career, and it’s gorgeous and true and heartbreaking — and I knew I should use it for an appeal to the heart about the Hill Country Ride for AIDS. Today starting at 11:30, my team, the Wheelie Nelsons, has a matching challenge, so please donate anything you can.

So back to the title. Snow Patrol released this song a few days ago, and I’m obsessed. I can’t stop listening to it. Here’s the chorus:

This is not love you’ve had before
This is something else
This is something else
This is not the same as other days
This is something else
This is something else
Shouldn’t need to be so fucking hard
This is life on earth
It’s just life on earth
It doesn’t need to be the end of you, or me
This is life on earth
It’s just life on earth

The lyricist is writing about his own struggles, but the words are so universal — they made me think about the difficulties people have with HIV/AIDS. Here’s a link to the video (of the 389,000 views, I think I’m probably 1,000 of them)

And here are some quotes about helping, matched with heartwarming stories about how your donations have helped people:

Marie T. Freeman
If you’re too busy to give your neighbor a helping hand, then you’re just too darned busy.

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Sam is 50 years old and has been living with AIDS for over 16 years, receiving assistance from AIDS Services of Austin periodically for ten years. There she has found a connection with others who have the same needs. She has an outlet to give back by exchanging her story and encouraging others to live in a positive way. The help she has received through ASA’s Food Bank and the Medical Nutrition Therapy program has truly transformed her life.Sam became a success story because of YOU who have donated.  There are thousands more who need you too, and the numbers keep rising.

and you can help by donating at
my Hill Country Ride page

Helen Keller

Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain.

Maria is 27 years old.  She had been positive for several years when she discovered she was pregnant. She moved into Roosevelt Gardens, where she had a nice place to call home with rent she could afford. With the support of Project Transitions’ HIV Services and the David Powell Health Center, she had a healthy pregnancy and her baby boy was born healthy and HIV negative. Now she is back at work, and thanks to you has the resources and support she needs to care for her son.We want to keep people like Maria healthy. People with AIDS deal with so many other illnesses that exacerbate each other and the agencies we fund address the full care continuum. Staying healthy pre-empts expensive illnesses that make people miss work or lose their jobs – it keeps people going. For every $100 spent on keeping people healthy and on their health care, we save $1,000 on expensive emergency room visits. It just makes sense not just for our hearts, but also for the whole community.

Woodrow Wilson

There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.

Project TransitionsProject Transitions is dedicated to providing hospice, housing and support to people affected by HIV/AIDS in a compassionate and caring environment.  Its hospice, Doug’s House, is the only facility in central Texas dedicated to in-house medical care for patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complications.  Project Transitions also provides affordable, transitional housing with supportive services for individuals and families affected by HIV through three housing programs: Roosevelt Gardens, Highland Terrace and Community Housing. These programs are partially supported by the proceeds from its thrift store, Top Drawer, which has been open since 1993.  Project Transitions’ goal is to help transition the homeless by providing support to gain the life-skills needed to live independently, and then move into long-term, affordable housing of their own.  projecttransitions.org

they are one of the beneficiary agencies, you can help them by donating at
my Hill Country Ride page

Bob Hope

If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

The Wright House Wellness CenterSince 1988, The Wright House Wellness Center has offered care and compassion to Central Texans affected by or at risk of HIV and other chronic illnesses. Wright House provides resources for support, education and empowerment.  Services include: HIV/Hepatitis C testing, education and prevention programming, HIV/Hepatitis C case management, HIV food bank and nutrition services, HIV mental health services, and complementary health therapies (acupuncture, massage therapy and yoga) for persons affected by HIV and/or Hepatitis C.  thewrighthouse.org

my favorite quote about helping:
Anne Frank

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

and yeah, I know you’ve seem this video, but I’m gonna make you cry again:

please donate at my Hill Country Ride page

Flora Edwards

In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.

Friends of David Powell Health CenterThrough the Friends of David Powell Health Center, money raised helps support the only public clinic in Austin specializing in medical care for persons with HIV and AIDS. The Clinic provides primary care, medical case management, immunizations, nutritional counseling and health education services to uninsured and underinsured patients in all stages of HIV infection.  fodpc.org

Dr. Loretta Scott

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

here’s a video with people talking about why they do this ride:

And the video from my boys — which also has apt lyrics: “write a world where the can belong to each other, and sing it like no other”