Pandemic
It was a beautiful fall day. The year was 1954 and I was 12 years old and doing my share of the farm work because there were only my mom, my dad, and me left on the 300 acre small farm to handle all the daily necessary chores. The temperature was about 10 degrees above normal and the sun was gloriously beaming down on us. My dad and I were in a bluff or copse of poplar trees that were about 10 years old. They were of sufficient size to be chopped down, trimmed, and made ready to be hauled back to our farm yard to be cut in stove-length pieces by a crew or "bee" of neighbors.After the sawed wood pieces were aged for a year, they would be ready for the stove.
My dad said we should take a break. As we sat there and he rolled himself a cigarette, he had a reminiscing look on his face.
"What are you thinking of dad?" I asked.
He then went on to recount the tale of the infamous Spanish Influenza that happened in 1918-1919 when he was about 11 years of age. He said that the weather during the fall of 1918 was very similar to the weather we were having today. He went on to recount how a lot of neighbors came down with the flu and that some died within a few days of getting it.
"Our family was fortunate," he said. His dad, my grandpa, had remembered that epidemics in the old country from where he had emigrated seemed to spread quickest where people congregated. As a result he had his family go into "isolation" long before it became one of the main prevention factors like we are undergoing today. It was social distancing in an extreme measure but it effectively saved his family of 8 from contracting the flu.
I fast forward to 2020. Because of my extreme situation of immune deficiency, I have been practising social distancing and self-isolation since the beginning of January. Each time I look out my window and see people passing by on the street, I am reminded of the social distancing that my dad had talked to me about those 60-some years ago. It was effective back in 1918 then for my family. It is effective today.
My sons and their families still visit us but we practise social distancing. They bring us our needed groceries and medications which my wife, Patti, wipes down carefully with an alcohol rub. We visit with neighbors at a distance. When we go out for drives, we enjoy the scenery but remain in the car. We wash our hands frequently with soap and water but especially when we have been out and about. We are being careful! We hope you are, too!
We shall overcome this pandemic and hopefully with a lesser toll of lives than the Spanish Flu took. Hopefully we will learn some positive lessons from this enforced segregation and loss of livelihoods and we will assist one another as much as possible. And hopefully we will be thankful for those brave souls who go out there on a daily basis to help our society continue to function.
My dad said we should take a break. As we sat there and he rolled himself a cigarette, he had a reminiscing look on his face.
"What are you thinking of dad?" I asked.
He then went on to recount the tale of the infamous Spanish Influenza that happened in 1918-1919 when he was about 11 years of age. He said that the weather during the fall of 1918 was very similar to the weather we were having today. He went on to recount how a lot of neighbors came down with the flu and that some died within a few days of getting it.
"Our family was fortunate," he said. His dad, my grandpa, had remembered that epidemics in the old country from where he had emigrated seemed to spread quickest where people congregated. As a result he had his family go into "isolation" long before it became one of the main prevention factors like we are undergoing today. It was social distancing in an extreme measure but it effectively saved his family of 8 from contracting the flu.
I fast forward to 2020. Because of my extreme situation of immune deficiency, I have been practising social distancing and self-isolation since the beginning of January. Each time I look out my window and see people passing by on the street, I am reminded of the social distancing that my dad had talked to me about those 60-some years ago. It was effective back in 1918 then for my family. It is effective today.
My sons and their families still visit us but we practise social distancing. They bring us our needed groceries and medications which my wife, Patti, wipes down carefully with an alcohol rub. We visit with neighbors at a distance. When we go out for drives, we enjoy the scenery but remain in the car. We wash our hands frequently with soap and water but especially when we have been out and about. We are being careful! We hope you are, too!
We shall overcome this pandemic and hopefully with a lesser toll of lives than the Spanish Flu took. Hopefully we will learn some positive lessons from this enforced segregation and loss of livelihoods and we will assist one another as much as possible. And hopefully we will be thankful for those brave souls who go out there on a daily basis to help our society continue to function.
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