Linda: I look at him how he was, and I look at him now, I feel so bad. Because I remember the vibrant Thomas, you know, not the Thomas that can’t hardly get up. He’s all skin and bones, and it hurts me just to see how skinny he is.
Thomas: I’m thinking I’m one way, but I see somebody else in the mirror.
Linda: He’s ahead of the game ’cause he still got life. Think about all the people that’s not here, that had the disease. [...]
Louis: She took a chance with me. It’s funny, I’m positive, but I didn’t wanna ask a woman that was negative if they would like to go out with me, because of the rejection that I might get. But then I noticed, I was feeling alone. And when I saw her for the first time, I said you know what? I’m gonna take a chance, I’m gonna ask her.
Rosalia: And I said no. I said, no, but then later on …okay, you can continue...
Louis: …but later on I decided, yeah well, I’m not gonna let that NO stop me, and I waited a week, I think, and I asked again, and she said yes. [...]
We may not talk about it or see it on movie screens, but sex and romance continue to play an important role in many people’s lives as they age. Some who have lost a long-term romantic partner are starting new intimate relationships for the first time since the HIV epidemic began. And some older adults have multiple partners or may be involved with someone who is not monogamous.