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Sharonmarie Fisher wrote the song "Take Me to the Mountain" as she prepared to die of HIV-related aseptic meningitis in 1992. She'd been living with HIV for six years and had known she had the virus for four of those years. Her weakened immune system seemed to be no match for the infection which attacked the covering of her brain and spinal cord. Sharonmarie suffered from debilitating headaches, fever, blurred vision and lack of balance. She slept in a hospital room for four days. If the infection progressed, coma and death would follow.

Sharonmarie already possessed a strong faith in God by the time the virus seemed to be doing its final and fatal work on her. An award-winning country singer and songwriter, she expressed her acceptance of her fate by writing Take Me to the Mountain; she was ready to go to heaven.

But heaven, it turned out, wasn't ready for Sharonmarie. With the help of good medical care, intravenous antibiotics and, Sharonmarie maintains, angels who appeared to her in a vision, she recovered from the severe bout of meningitis. As a result of the crisis, Sharonmarie is left with recurring aseptic meningitis, which she now recognizes early and gets treated before it gets too serious.

But, after recovering from the depths of meningitis, Sharonmarie's health problems were far from over. Her HIV continued to progress and by mid-1996 she had full blown AIDS. Her viral load was 540,000 and her T-cell count was 200. She had resisted taking antiretrovirals to that point, but felt that the time to combat the virus with medication had come. She started with a combination of Crixivan®, Hivid® and Epivir® and, after trying and eliminating a couple of antiretrovirals, found that a two-combination therapy of Crixivan and Epivir worked best for her.

Sharonmarie's response to antiretroviral therapy was amazing. After only three months of antiretroviral treatment, her viral load was down to 7,000 and her T-cell count had advanced to 360. Six months later, her viral load was undetectable and her T-cell count was up to 460. And another medication proved to be of great benefit: an off-label use of the drug Neurontin®, approved for the treatment of epileptic seizures, eliminated the severe head pain she experienced as a result of the recurring meningitis. Not long from the brink of death, the singer had a new lease on life.

Since that time, nothing has stood in Sharonmarie's way from leading the best quality of life possible. Today, at the age of 47, she looks at every day as a gift — and at living well as an obligation. With a positive attitude that never quits, she describes her personal definition of living well: "It's waking up in the morning with a smile, using my music to educate others about HIV, taking my medications on time, eliminating stress and anxiety, and sharing lots of love, hugs and kisses."

That's a prescription that serves Sharonmarie and those around her well. Her life is a full balance of things she loves most: God, whom she credits for all the blessings in her life and to whom she gives all the glory; her devoted husband and number one fan, Dennis Laughrey; talented fellow musician, soul mate and only son, Phillip John Maldonado, Jr. and his wife Beth; and music, which is both Sharonmarie's passion and her work.

"Music keeps my soul happy," Sharonmarie explains. "It keeps me going through good and bad times. It's a way to express my anxieties, sadness and happiness. If I can sing one song and touch one person through my music, I'm the happiest person in the world."

This California singer is touching many people with her music since the release of her new CD, Send Down an Angel. The songs on the CD demonstrate the wide array of emotions and situations she's experienced since her diagnosis of HIV. Titles range from Take Me to the Mountain at her lowest point to It Feels Good to Feel Good highlighting better days. The title song, Send Down an Angel is performed with and written by Sharonmarie's son, Phillip John. In this song, Phillip John asks for an angel to take away the hate in the world, the hate that he has seen used against his mother for being infected with HIV.

Sharonmarie has entertained primarily on the West Coast, as well as in Alaska, New Orleans, Nashville, Chicago, Hawaii and Texas. She's performed with such well-known entertainers as Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Charley McCoy and Delbert McClinton, to name a few. She has received numerous awards including the Golden State Country Music Association of America's Keyboard Player of the Year for three consecutive years, Song Writer of the Year, Album of the Year and the national title of Instrumentalist of the Year.

She also uses her music talent to benefit children with AIDS. For the past seven years she has put together and performed a benefit event called Sharonmarie's Send Down an Angel Christmas Benefit for Children With AIDS. All proceeds from the Hollywood event have benefited Caring for Babies With AIDS, Tuesday's Child, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, organizations that provide direct services to HIV-infected and -affected infants, children and families or support research of pediatric AIDS treatment. So far, Sharonmarie has helped to raise over $200,000 for children with AIDS. A portion of the proceeds from her new CD will also go to the cause.

As the director of development for Caring for Babies with AIDS, Harriet Baron has worked with Sharonmarie for many years. She calls Sharonmarie "an extraordinary person who's made a tremendous impact." She explains, "Sharonmarie approaches the benefit with a single-mindedness that I've rarely seen. As gifted as she is in music, is as gifted as she is in raising money and awareness for babies with AIDS. She speaks from the heart."

Sharonmarie also treks to high schools and colleges to spread the word about HIV. She speaks from a first-person perspective about the reality of HIV and the dangers of sexual relationships, particularly when deceit and deception are involved. She stresses the need to prevent the spread of the virus, and the importance of understanding and supporting those who are already infected with it. To date, she's received more than 700 letters from kids who've been impacted by her speeches.

From music and benefits to day-to-day life, Sharonmarie's husband, Dennis Laughrey, is by her side. Sharonmarie and Dennis have a relationship which he describes as "very close, extra very close." The two were married in 1988, just months after Sharonmarie found out she was HIV positive. Infected by her previous lover who, unbeknownst to her, was bisexual and promiscuous, she had been infected two years before she found out she had the virus. With a wedding planned in two months and invitations just printed, the news of Sharonmarie's serostatus was like a bomb for the couple. But it didn't change the way Dennis felt about his fiancee and it didn't keep him from marrying her. "He told me, whether we have six days, six months or six years, we're buying a house and getting married. And that's what we did," she says. "That's true love."

Sharonmarie calls Dennis her "guardian angel, song writing partner, best friend and wonderful husband." She credits him for "supporting me, believing in me and standing by my side through the hardest times of our lives."

He shares praise for her, too. "Sharonmarie is a bundle of joy. She's a happy, positive person. That's what attracted me to her first. I was going through a hard time in my life when I heard her performing. Her wonderful attitude came through her music and made me realize that life is good."

Life with Sharonmarie, he feels, is a blessing. "Sharonmarie is a great example, not only for people living with HIV, but to those who don't have the virus. If she can live well with HIV, certainly I can without it. How can I feel bad about trivial things? She makes me see the bigger picture."

The big picture was sometimes difficult to see. Sharonmarie notes that life hasn't always been easy for her, but hard times have helped make her the giving and grateful person she is today. Sharonmarie was one of nine children, two of whom died, in a poor yet very loving family in Northern California. She remembers days of "going without" and of picking cherries, peaches and strawberries to earn money for school clothes. "We didn't have much, but my parents, Agness Mary and Aldon Ray Fisher, always taught us the right things to do in life." A great potential opened up for her at the age of 10 when her mother spent her father's truck payment to buy an old upright piano with 15 broken keys. That's when the world of music became hers.

The years ahead provided a mix of obstacles and rewards for Sharonmarie. She had a brief marriage to a childhood sweetheart, resulting in the birth of her son Phillip John. After the marriage ended she became a single mother, struggling to put bread on the table. She worked as a musician, legal secretary, teacher or fire fighter — whatever paid at the moment. When she found herself in the middle of the "rock scene," faced with excesses including booze and cocaine, she left the world of rock & roll. She explains, "I became a born-again Christian. I concentrated on country and blues music — and that's when my career really took off."

Those difficult periods succeeded in preparing Sharonmarie for life with HIV. Her diagnosis presented a tremendous fear of the unknown. It resulted in the sickness she's endured. Her diagnosis of HIV has also flamed the hatred and prejudice of others. She has been kicked out of a dentist's office because the practitioner didn't want to treat her, she's lost two different jobs when her employers found out her status, and a "friend" of her husband made it clear she wasn't welcome at his wedding if anyone knew she was HIV positive. But the acts of ignorance and hatred have never stopped Sharonmarie. They only spurred on her will to create awareness of HIV and acceptance for those who have it. Her answer is to fight back with love. "I'm a giver," she says, "and that's what I do."

Sharonmarie is expected to keep giving for many years. Thanks in great part to today's antiretroviral medications and to her doctors, HIV specialist Michael Gottleib and neurologist Howard Aaron Aronow, Sharonmarie faces a promising future. Dr. Aronow points out that Sharonmarie's willingness to be a participant in her own health care has been a positive force in Sharonmarie's wellness. "She's very active in her treatment. She's constantly reading, talking to others and participating in women's groups. This is tremendously helpful."

Dr. Aronow also notes that Sharonmarie doesn't waste time feeling sorry for herself. "Even when she hasn't been doing well, she's made certain that she's thinking of the good of other people. She is an incredible person to be able to do that. Her fortitude and dedication to serving others keeps her going."

Sharonmarie's journey has taken her to the top of the mountain where she was ready to die . . . and to the valley below where she found much work to be done. As her life travels continue, she spreads a message of love and hope to those she meets. Along the way, many have suggested that her song has come true: God has sent down an angel. This angel, they say, is found in the person of Sharonmarie Fisher.

The Send Down an Angel CD by Sharonmarie Fisher may be purchased from: Fastball Records 31225 LaBaya Drive, Suite 102 Westlake Village, CA 91362 FAX: 1-818-597-9285 PHONE: 1-818-597-0670
 
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