The first real bombshell dropped about six minutes into our chat, while talking about ARV drugs. Almost too casually, JTD said “I haven’t been on meds for going on 14 months now.” I had not yet publicized my own decision to start taking ARV drugs again, though I had dropped some pretty serious hints in our email exchange about “going over to the dark side”, and I was sure he knew I was planning to restart them. The irony of JTD’s comment hit me like a slap in the face. “I can’t believe that,” I told JTD, “you quit the drugs, and I’m getting ready to take them.”

This was probably the pivotal point in our conversation where my doubts and apprehensions about JTD started to soften.