Brooke Davidoff

Journalism is invisible advocacy for me, I have been writing since high school. I have been blogging about living with HIV on a national level for almost as long as I have known I was positive. I was not aware that recognition for doing this was a thing. On August 5th I got a text message from LaToya Murchison who I have known from Pillow Talk for almost 4 years, she told me to check my email.

An email inviting me to Pillow Talk came at the perfect time, I had just moved to Kansas City, Missouri from Long Beach, California where I was living with my son, mother, and her boyfriend. I transferred from Long Beach City College to the University of Missouri Kansas City. My son and I were supposed to move in with my friend from high school who is also a single mother. That move didn't work out like planned, my son ended up moving in with his dad in Illinois.

I was only in fifth grade when I began my period. I have hated every minute of them since. Menstruating while school aged came along with embarrassing moments, like bleeding through pads and outfits simply because teachers didn't let me go to the bathroom in time. Toward the end of high school, I transitioned to tampons. No matter the product I used, I found periods to be disgusting and uncomfortable. There are not many perks of being HIV positive, but early menopause might be one of them.