The attached AIDSRide.PDF is from the AIDSRide. 

Thank you all for your support !!!

Dear ECS students past and present,

John Guzman, here.  Class of '82.

In July, my wife Monica and I will be joining more than 3,000 cyclists on a brave journey of kindness.  We will take four days to bicycle 350 miles from Bear Mountain, New York, to Boston, Massachusetts, to raise money and awareness in the fight against AIDS.

I've committed to raise at least $2,100 in pledges between now and the beginning of the Ride on July 19th.  Would you please make a pledge to help me meet my goal?

I was going to write about statistics in this e-mail; tell you about the hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone that have already died from AIDS < or that worldwide every 11 minutes someone becomes HIV positive. Maybe even remind you that Latinos make up 18 percent of all AIDS cases in the U.S.  But I have my own statistic I'd like to share with you.

My uncle and best friend growing up was Isaias "Ike" Guzman, my father's little brother.  We did everything together.  We worked weekends at my Dad's tile setting business and he gave me rides to ECS on his motorcycle.  He raked the piles of leaves my brother and I would pounce on with glee when we were little growing up in New York.

When I graduated Coast Guard basic training in Cape May, New Jersey , he was there, beaming with pride. ( Isaias "Ikle" Guzman -.PDF File). 

When Ike died of AIDS in 1992, surrounded by family, I was not present.  I was afraid.  Afraid of death and afraid of AIDS.  I visited his bedside briefly a few weeks before he passed, but I couldn't bring myself to visit him during his final hours.

That haunts me to this day.  I am ashamed that I allowed my own fears of death and dying to get in the way of seeing him one last time.  To be thereto comfort him.

So I'm dedicating my ride to Ike.  To apologize to him for not being strong enough then.  I will be strong now.  I will have a picture of him on my handlebars to inspire me from campsite to campsite.  Every mile I know he will be with me, encouraging me to ride on.

I want to leave you with two quotes that I have next to my training schedule, to inspire me to keep riding when it might be too cold, or too rainy, or when I might feel too tired:

"The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by the skeptics or the cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities.  We need people who dream of things that never were."

"Until he has been part of a cause larger than himself, no man is truly whole."

Thank you in advance for your generosity.  It means a lot to me. 

Sincerely,

John Guzman, Class of 1982

Bike Ride Againts Aids - I'm Possible (.PDF File Version)

Checks should be made out to 2001 NorthEast AIDSRide (my rider number, 2157, can be written in the check¹s memo section).  You can mail checks to my address: John Guzman, AIDSRider 2157, 806 Madison Street, East Rochester, NY 14445.  Or you can pledge online at www.aidsride.org I'm registered under the NorthEast Ride section.

Biographical information:

After graduating from ECS,  John Guzman went on to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard for eight years.   He served aboard the USCGC Northwind, Base San Juan, Puerto Rico and Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.  He graduated with honors from the Defense Information Photojournalism School in May 1986.   Coast Guard career highlights include receiving the Commandant¹s Letter of Commendation in 1985 and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal in 1990.  A public affairs specialist, Petty Officer Guzman also illustrated the Our Day with the Coast Guard and More than 200 Years of Coast Guard History coloring books. 

John left the Coast Guard in 1990 to pursue a career in graphic design and desktop publishing.  He worked in Rockville, Maryland as a design supervisor for Aspen Systems Corporation.  In 1995 he accepted the position of Art Director for Cahners Publishing¹s Government Computer News newspapers and magazines.

To be closer to family after marrying in 1995, John and Monica moved to Rochester, New York.  He currently holds the position of Card Design Director for  Lazer, Incorporated, a digital asset management company in Rochester, New York.  He works on the Fleer International Sports Trading Card account.  He lives with his wife and their cat Chesapeake in East Rochester, New York.