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Community Corner

AIDS: A Story from the Past

Thirty years after the first AIDS cases are documented, Snellville Patch freelancer tells us a personal story of how the disease made an impact on her family. This is the third in a three-part installment.

It was 1989. 

My Uncle, Ace Davis, had just died of AIDS. 

My mother came home from the funeral and wrapped her arms around my brother and I, hugging us tighter than I remember ever being hugged before.  She was trying so hard not to cry, but couldn’t prevent a few stray tears from trickling down her cheeks.  

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When I asked what was wrong, she said, “I’m just happy to see you.” 

Ace was diagnosed with AIDS eight years before his death, a stretch of time that made his doctors label him as a “long-term survivor”.  

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“He was very self-conscious,” my mother, Kim Gamble, recalls.  “He took care of himself and still exercised.  He still ate well.” 

Despite his efforts to extend his life, he knew he did not have long. 

“He tried to lighten the load when he told me,” she said.  “He said they were working really hard on finding a cure, but it could be really bad.  He said it could kill him if they didn’t find a cure.” 

He watched many of his friends die of the disease, and many others died soon after. 

After Ace told my mother about his diagnosis, she flew out to see him and his partner.  

“I asked his partner, ‘Aren’t you worried about this?’” she said.  “He said, ‘I would have gotten sick by now and I don’t have any symptoms.’  He ended up dying a few years after Ace did.” 

The fatal disease strikes people across the spectrum, without regard to age or ethnicity.  Ace, who was 35 when he died, worked on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.  He owned Ace Davis Styling Center, a hair salon that saw high profile clients like Betty White, Morgan Fairchild, and Diana Ross, who he personally attended to.  He lived in Studio City, home to many movie stars then and now. Everyone loved him, and especially my mother. 

“He was the mouth of the family and I was the quiet one,” she laughed.  (Let’s just say that my mother is my role-model, and that includes everything from her love of people to her none-too-quiet opinions.) 

I remember my mom saying that her brother used to refer to her, jokingly, as his “frumpy missionary sister”.  She and my dad spent the first ten years of my life overseas as non-denominational missionaries while he blended in with Hollywood stars.  

“The mistakes he made had nothing to do with how much I loved him,” she said.  “He regretted some of the choices he made in his life, like most of us do.  He met Jesus the year before he died.  Some friends of his wanted him to go see Last Temptation of Christ, and he made the statement, ‘I’ve just met Jesus for who he really is.  I don’t want to go see him portrayed as something he’s not.’” 

Ace was given AZT, or azidothymidine, a breakthrough antiretroviral medication to boost his immune system.  The patent for the drug was filed in 1985. (See attached PDF for an AIDS timeline.)

Little was known about the disease in the 80s, but now that there is so much information and so many resources, it is surprising that the infection rate has not declined.  

During the early phases of HIV, there are little to no symptoms. Sometimes, people develop flu-like symptoms, including fever, headache, swollen lymph glands and rash.  As the years go by, patients experience chronic symptoms, including weight loss, cough and shortness of breath, and diarrhea.

My family misses my Uncle Ace, and we are all hoping that more people arm themselves with the knowledge and precautions to live longer, healthier lives. After all, in many cases, AIDS is preventable.

For resources and information, visit the website of the Georgia AIDS Coalition, spearheaded by Snellville resident Cathalene Teahan. The public mayh get tested at the STD Test Express clinic inside Emory Eastside Hospital, 1800 Tree Lane, Suite 310. Hours are 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m., Monday-Friday. Call 888-215-9543 for more information. 

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