As the world came together to acknowledge Word AIDS Day on Dec.1, I was left feeling out of place and out of mind. The official theme of World AIDS Day was “Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths.”

I reflected on this the other day when I noticed a red mark on my chest. Instantly I thought it was a lesion; a sign I was sick and likely to die. No I’m no hypochondriac, but I am HIV positive. When I was first diagnosed, I thought of Tom Hanks’ face as Andrew Beckett in the 1993 film “Philadelphia.”

The term Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, wasn’t coined until the end of 1982 but was a serious problem for the previous decade.

The origin of HIV is still largely a mystery, however, it is thought that the virus was transferred to humans somewhere around 1930. The leading theory is that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has ancestral basis from the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV). How the virus was transferred is still unknown.

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative announced its 2013 funding recipients this week, as it prepares to grant more than $360,000 to 10 San Diego area HIV/AIDS service organizations.

SAN DIEGO – Mama’s Kitchen will host its 20th annual World AIDS Day Tree of Life ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 1, to recognize and remember those affected by AIDS.

The moving event will feature the lighting of the large holiday Christmas tree that stands in the center of the ground level plaza at the Village Hillcrest shopping center. Participants have the opportunity to purchase an ornament to be placed on the tree, which can be personalized with a message to a loved one. One ornament is $15 and two ornaments are $25, with proceeds benefitting the services of Mama’s Kitchen.