Paul Cavaluzzi was raised in an Italian American family on Staten Island. His father stopped talking to him after he came out. We met at the West Side YMCA and for a period, we got so close that we discussed whether or not we should have sex, however we didn’t want to risk our friendship. Paul and I participated in many gay activities, including nights on acid to the Saint, the all time greatest disco according to a lot of gay men. He never had much luck with men, often choosing the wrong types, until eventually he accepted the marriage proposal of a woman who loved him for as long as I had known him. His gay friends were not supportive of his decision, yet after initially trying to talk him out of it, I accepted his decision and remained close to him and Ronnie, his wife-to-be. Meanwhile, Paul discovered he was HIV positive and had begun to experience symptoms. He died in 1992 in Los Angeles. His nieces in Staten Island were directed to me by the @theAIDSMemorial page in 2025. As I shared all of my memories and photos of Paul with them, they told me he was their favorite uncle, but they were forbidden by their families to talk to him. “What is remembered lives”.