So, she didn't asking of me personally, just about how the virus worked.
I left the information there with her,
and about two weeks from that day, I'm at my kitchen sink thinking to myself,
okay I'm going to call my mother up now, and tell her I'm infected.
Hopefully this won't send my family further over the edge.
Because we were just hanging on as a family with out fingertips.
>> So this was a chaotic family, and you >> Yes.
>> Your fear was.
That this was going to be.
>> Exactly.
This was going to push it over the edge, [CROSS-TALK] and make it worse.
It was just going to rip the family further apart, so
I turned from the kitchen sink to reach for the phone to call my mother.
And it rings before I can pick it up.
And guess who's on the other end, my mother.
She goes Leon, I go yes, mam.
She goes, are you infected with HIV?
I went, whoa, was just about to call and tell you that.
And her response was not what I had played out in my mind it was going to be.
She was just a supportive and loving and caring.
She didn't judge.
She didn't preach from the Bible.
It was wonderful.
>> Mm-hm. >> During our conversation, she said,
do you want your sisters to know?
I said, yeah, you can tell them.
She said, do you want your father to know?
We kind of both went, uh-uh, no we're not going there.
We're not going to have that conversation with them, it was not going to happen.
We both decided we would wait until I was moments from dying and then we
would tell him, because he likes to hear people and call them by their name.
Mm-hm.
>> And it wouldn't matter then.
I'm going to be dead in a few minutes, you know?
>> So, you were all pretty scared.
>> Yeah, we were.
We were.
But the fates didn't have it to work that way.
I had an opportunity, long ye, long time ago to do an commercial for
the state health department, speaking as a person living with HIV.
So I took them up on that opportunity, because that was my 15 minutes of fame.
>> Okay. >> So I went for it.
>> Before today, now your have.
>> Oh, yes. >> Another 15 minutes fame.
>> Another 15 minutes of fame.
>> [LAUGH].
>> And did the commercial.
My father's sister saw the commercial.
She called him up and said, you know your son's on TV talking about HIV and AIDS?
So there was a phone message for me that night.
Leon your father knows you're infected, you better call him.
That's from your mom.
>> Yeah, so I get, gather what strength I had, take a deep breath,
call my father up on the phone and I'm ready, ready for the worst case scenario.
Ready to be cussed out, disowned, because that's how he responds to things.
So I'm,
you know, call him up, call him up like dad, I heard you found out I'm infected.
He's like yeah, how you been doing?
You taking care of yourself?
You been eating right?
Do you need a ride to the doctor?
Do you need money for medication?
At that point, I look at the phone and wonder, where is my real father?
>> Yeah. >> Because this is not the man that,
you know, has been going up inside my head all these years.
So, during the conversation, he kept asking,
why was he just finding out about this.
And I kept trying to avoid answering that question.
He kept asking.
So, finally, I took another deep breath and I said, really quickly.
The reason you're just finding out is you're not the easiest person in
the world to talk to about anything.
And I got real quiet because I knew the storm was going to come.
Nope, it was he got quiet, he asked me some more questions.
We ended our conversation on a very nice note.
And from that day forward the abuse just stopped.
It just stopped.
>> That's such an interesting and beautiful story.
how, is your dad still alive?
>> Oh, yeah.
>> How's he doing?
>> He's doing great.
He's doing great.
>> Mm-hm. >> He's a lot nicer to be around.
And it actually, the fact that I disclosed actually brought my
family closer together versus ripping us apart.
But you couldn't convince me.
That it wasn't going to rip us apart.
And that's a fear with a lot of people today,
who haven't disclosed it to their family.
That is going to cause more turmoil.
But it had the opposite effect for me and my family.
So, it was really weird getting that first I love you.
And the first hug.
It was really weird.
And it took a minute to get used to that.
Well, it's so wonderful that that happened.
>> Yeah, yeah.