Received from George Roof. Penned by Dawn Merrill
With all that is going on concerning the coronavirus, it might pay to do a little remembering.
I was born in the midst of the Polio epidemic in the late 40’s and early 50’s. I heard my parents speak of happenings many times. Being of the Lutheran faith that performs the rite of baptism usually in infancy, this was a great concern to my parents. In that I was the last delivery by the stork, the kindly minister waited until I arrived and then, three weeks later, my parents and myself, along with eight other sets of parents and their babies, arrived at the church on a Sunday afternoon.
The only other person present was the minister who administered the Rite of Baptism to nine infants. I would not be in church for almost two more years. The same applied to my husband, who was born in March, but was not baptized until July.
Again, his minister waited until the stork made the last delivery, and his baptism was on Sunday afternoon also – 150 miles away from where I was baptized. There was no visiting among neighbors, especially if a young child was present in the home. One parent was always home, and parents did not worship together for quite a while.
As winter approached, it was apparent that this little baby was beginning to walk and needed shoes. So my dad took a piece of cardboard, and drew around my foot. He then drove to the nearest town, walked in the shoe store, and talked to the manager. The manager looked at the drawing and gave my dad three different pairs of shoes. Daddy drove back home, tried the shoes on me, selected the one that fit the best, and then returned to the store to give back the two pair he did not want, and pay for the pair he kept. It’s simply called neighbor helping neighbor and trusting, and being honest.
How many of you remember getting a polio vaccine shot in elementary school, or later as a teenager, getting the polio vaccine on a lump of sugar? How soon we forget.
In a similar vein, I heard more than once the story of the 1918 flu epidemic. The closest neighbor to my great Aunt and Uncle had the flu and survived. Therefore, he became the person to “do” for everyone else. Every two or three weeks, we would “get word” that he was going into town. On the morning of the appointed day, neighbors for as much as two miles away would come to his house before daybreak and hang a basket in a tree. In the basket would be what they were sending for barter, along with a little money and a list.
He would go by horse and wagon to the nearest town, spend the greater part of the day bartering and buying and loading the baskets with the appointed items, then return home, and once again hang the baskets in the tree (this prevented animals from getting the goods). Shortly thereafter, people would begin arriving to get their goods, but only ONE horse and wagon would be in the yard at a time.
Again, neighbor helping neighbor. In both instances, there was no media as such. There weren’t even radios around. People were told there was a disease present, and they needed to take care and they did.
While a lot of people did contract polio, and a lot of people died from the flu, in an age when there were no “modern” medicines, people did survive. What this world needs is a LOT LESS MEDIA, a lot more caring for each other, and a heck of a lot more faith. We also need desperately to learn to take care of ourselves in such situations.
Too many people live day to day and never plan for tomorrow. How sad. DFM
Good post. I remember getting shots for everything. Then they changed one of the shots to a small glass of liquid. Never had any communicable diseases.
I had rheumatic fever at 7 yrs old. Had to stay in bed for months. Fortunately for me, they put me on a couch in front of the tv. I got 2 shots in my little buttcheeks every day. I was so used to them, no needles bother me any more. My Mother was an RN. You can’t get anything past them LOL
Good post my friend.
Blessings
2medicinewoma
Sharon