"DILLON CAME INTO MY LIFE as a foster baby. . . Within the first five minutes I knew I could love this kid for the rest of my life. I had fallen in love with him. . . Because his family situation was not solid enough to care for him, I knew I was going to be raising him.

Yes, I am an ‘educator.’ The kids don’t have a voice and they are overlooked all the time. At Dillon’s various schools, I’d sit in front of a staff meeting and talk about my son and why he’s not dangerous to the other students in the school. Once they understood Dillon’s situation, there have been several teachers who go out of their way and make sure they catch his eye and smile and say, ‘Hi.’

From Dill’s perspective, he knows he has HIV. I think he understands it’s a virus, though because of his age, I don’t know if he knows what a virus is. He knows it’s not like a cold or the flu. He knows that he takes medications and IVs and has to eat well to keep his body strong so that it can keep fighting the virus.

As limited as his understanding is, he does know that the virus kills people or can kill people. His birth mother died when he was five. He knew her pretty well.

Dillon did a coming out at the end of school last year. We were at a monthly infusion appointment at Children’s Hospital and he sat down and wrote a story for the weekly school newsletter. ‘I had an IV today. That’s why I wasn’t at school. I need special medicine because I have HIV. You can’t get it from me by being my friend. I’m going to be on TV. I’m a TV star’

. . . Most of my world centers around providing Dillon with a really good life. That’s my main focus, keeping the world safe for Dillion...."