I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most

valuable gifts you can give yourself is time. Taking time to be more fully present. Your journey

to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now.

Magic Johnson announced his HIV diagnosis on November 7, 1991, just two months after Cookie

and Magic were married. That year, AIDS had become the number one cause of death for men

between the ages of 25 and 44 and forty-four one hundred fifty-seven thousand people had died from what doctors considered an age epidemic

at the time magic johnson was one of the most famous athletes in the world having won five n b with the L.A. Lakers.

Magic's press conference remains one of the most unforgettable moment in sports history.

In an instant, Cookie's life was turned upside down in front of the entire world.

In private, she was brought to her knees.

For the first time, Cookie is telling her story

in her new book, Believing in Magic.

I just want to remind the world that in 1991,

people were still very, very afraid of AIDS.

It was still like you can't touch a person, hug a person.

Right. Right. You know, that time was, it was a really scary time because the people had just

started hearing about, you know, AIDS. And they, and it's funny because they heard, they heard

AIDS, but they never heard about HIV. Yes. You know, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Yes, so you all thought it was the same thing. Yeah, you just go straight to its aid, AIDS, and its death.

So it was a scary time.

It was a scary time for us.

It was scary time for, you know, a lot of people.

And then your husband, Irvin Magic Johnson, sort of became, not sort of, became the face

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