@ricci I worked for decades as a massage therapist. One of my regular clients was an older woman with grown children.

She had had polio as a child, and it left her with uneven legs and a very deformed spine.

She did go on to live a happy and productive and connected life with her husband and children and co-workers. But as you say, she also lived with lifelong physical limitations and chronic pain. A sobering reminder of just how important and effective vaccines and all modern medicines are.

My own parents were born before vaccines, before antibiotics. I remember them telling stories from their childhoods. Times when the family would leave town and "vacation" at campgrounds in tents away from other people. Times when, "No, you can't go visit Mary to play now. She has Diphtheria." Or measles. Or pneumonia.

My dad nearly died of pneumonia at age four. All they could do was keep him covered and propped up in bed with his little stuffy Laddy Dog and wait, while his fever raged on and on, his lungs filled with fluid, and he survived by breathing (panting) with the inch of clear lung he had left.

When my own kids were little and feeling nervous about getting shots, I would tell them about their grandparents, and let them hold Laddy Dog, and tell them they were doing such a good thing because they weren't just protecting themselves, they were taking care of all the other people around them.

#storytelling #vaccines #polio