Hello list, Please plan on taking some time for this-it's long- or delete if you want.... Another caregiver leaves me..... but Don, Camilla, Gisela, Hans, Delda, Joan, Jeanette, Hilary and more of you soften the blow. And then I get hate mail for the second day in a row from a male on our List.... The person I found to help me for the weekend at 1:45 on Thursday afternoon left at 7 AM this morning. He was just wonderful to me. WIthout his help, I would have had to go to Mercy Hospital, maybe never to return. It was a trial for both of us, however. He came armed with a BOX of rubber gloves. I felt like a laboratory rat. He would not use my sinks to wash his hands. He told me that he didn't need to eat anything from my refrigerator. I guess he "held it in" because he would not use either of my bathrooms! He drove four miles home and back when he "had to go" (to the bathroom). He broke out into a sweat when I needed help to get out of my boots and jeans and long-johns last night. He was frightened to touch my skin. I could not get help at all to dry my hair after a bath, so I went three days with no shampooing, shaving and cleaning up properly. No big deal-I'm used to being treated poorly. His roommate was supposed to give him a three hour break, and cook supper on Friday night. But the roommate never showed up here. HHV strikes again. Eventually, I taught the CG how to make a nutritious soup, from sweet potatoes, white potatoes, carrots, onions and chicken bouillon. And even though "supper" had to be delayed til 1 AM , it was nutritious and delicious. The caregiver was obviously infected with the HHV. That's the human homophobia virus. His church (7th Day Adventist) lets gay people attend but gays cannot become members. This morning, when he left, another Christian came in. A better kind of Christian. She accepts me as I was made by our one God. Since the age of 9 I knew I was "special." Her name is Natalie. She has learned that I am just like anybody else. I have to tell you my story so that you can learn why my PWP journey is extra difficult. I read all your stories about caring for your opposite-sex wives and husbands, and I appreciate them and enjoy them because you feel happy to share your gratefulness for the love you are blessed to have. Just delete this if you don't want to know what I go through to survive. I might be the only male gay PWP of 9 that I know of on this LIst, who feels safe enough to talk to you openly. I am trying to let you see what my life is like. Some of you would be SHOCKED if you knew what I know about the gay men who have to hide in the closet, who are very PROMINENT on this List. But I respect their privacy. Lately I've been moody. Sometimes I have been feeling sunny, and very grateful for the good moments, other times, blue, blue-black or black and blue. This evening I looked at the thermometer. At about 11:00 it was hovering around +5 deg. Fahrenheit. Or, you could say, 27 deg below the freezing point of water. Not an ideal place to have PD-hypothermia. Around my place it is an Arctic wasteland. The driveway is at best a hockey rink, at worst, a dangerous downhill death trap. I want to feel like I'm in a crystal palace. There are moments when I make it there. I'm 49 now, but most of the time, I still think of myself as 26. I can't explain it. Then PD makes me feel 102 at times. Sometimes I plan my excursions away from this perfectly beautiful house for 5, 6, 7 hors, and when the time comes to go out, I have tired out too much to leave home. I have been struggling every day for about 6 months. I go out to the neighborhood bar. I try to connect with the people there, but only with hours of preparation do I have even half a chance of shaking PD off my shoulders. I feel sort of like Chris Kinesia's blood brother when Chris orders a Sinemet Sling from the bartender.. Not everyone notices PD in the dark of night. Somehow I am more acceptable after dark. Safer to pretend. Tonight I made it home and got in from seeing "the boys." and tried to get on the List. My modem wasn't being recognized. I had to shut down and re-boot. I tried everything. Finally, after 2 HOURS of trying, I got hooked up. What a relief. I was almost panicky. I needed you. Without the List, at this very scary time, I am fidgety, or antsy or worse. You all are so precious to me. I don't care if you are fighting with each other (hopefully not too often). I hope I didn't upset any of you when I talked about the terrible things that I have had to go through. I didn't mean to be perceived to be selfish. I just needed a few people to listen to me. Tonight three different guys sorta "made the moves" on me. You gals know what I mean. I was dressed real nicely and quietly sat there, sipping my beverage. I was thinking, how would I handle it if somebody REALLY likes me, and finds out I have quickly advancing PD. Will this block me from a relationship? I looked good, I know I did, and people were drawn to me. Eye contact. Hugs happened (lololo). A warm mustache nearly brushed my lips. So many people here on this List seem to be married or partnered or looking for the opposite sex. You might want to think how lucky you are by contrast to me. I think that all of us single PWP's must face the same dilemma, whether God made you straight or gay, or bisexual. PD is a very tricky pest. Most of the time I feel like I am the only young, single, gay and PWP on the planet who has not given up on finding that special somebody. Sometimes I wish just ONE, just ONE more gay guy would tell the list his story to the LIst. You would all learn so much. I felt that once Camilla and also GIsela from Germany and Hans from the Netherlands responded to my battle scars, the List was finally going to get over my being "different." In general, I feel better every time you send me a message that shows you care. I thought to myself, thank you, God and Goddess, the whole List was starting to like me again. IF a few more of the gay guys on this list felt up to it, and told the 90 or 95 % of the List you are also gay, it would help me. To come out of the closet , you need a LOT of support, but to be in the closet is a kind of pretense that isolates me. Then again, perhaps I never should have talked. Oh well. This morning, I got on the List as usual. A letter from someone (I won't say his name) who wrote me an angry private post . He said I have to remember that this List has 1600 people, and it is not my list! Just yesterday, a letter from another male had said that I must stop pushing the "GAY" issue. Excuse me, I never tell you folks to stop pushing the "STRAIGHT" issue!! We all need each other!! That negative attitude is still bothering me. I REALLY DON'T NEED HATRED at 8:00 on a Sunday morning! And I will talk about it if that is what I need to do to remain whole. I hope both men get over that hating feeling. I certainly need all of you as FAMILY. This list is , like Janet P. said, a miracle. Can't we get over homophobia and antiSemitism and racial attitudes, and respect women as human beings, before the millennium? I would like to BRAG about this list, but I'm not ready to do so quite yet. I guess sometimes the word "gay" gets in the way. Please try a little harder to get over it. Love from Maine, Ivan 49/39/36 P.S. No, I'm not a lighthouse-keeper (Hi, Texas!) Yes, I am still doing better, thanks to adding Tasmar. And yes, many people in the gay community here help me in different ways. One who is 55 is under discussion as a possible housemate for me. He is educated, and needs a job. However, he has been caring for his mom, who has Alzheimer's. She just moved to an assisted living place, not far from me. It costs $115.00 per day. He just returned from living in London for several years. He has to feel out whether being around my young-onset PD would be too much of a burden. There are no immediate answers. He is going to try out here on Wednesday. We are at least talking rather comfortably.