First of all, my DSL internet connection is dying fast. Next Friday, I get on cable, along with screaming 15 MB speed. but in the meantime, since working on the web under present conditions is pure torture, today's column will be it for Boomer memories this week. Things should be back to normal by next Monday.
One of the reasons that we Boomers are so tough and resilient despite the various curve balls that life throws at us is because we had to endure multiple rounds of epidemic ailments when we were kids. These diseases were expected, even welcomed, as rites of passage that provided evidence that we were, indeed, growing up.
The goods news about mumps, chicken pox, and rubella measles was that once we went through the agony, that was it. We were provided with lifetime protection against future infections by our wondrous immune systems. So we knew, as we sat there in agony from itching, fever, and overall pain that once it was over, it was OVER!
But that didn't provide any short-term relief. No, the only solace we received was that at least we were getting out of school. The very unlucky among us got infected in the summer. There was absolutely no good news about that.
I remember having chicken pox. The evidence of the latter is found in occasional scars located on my 49-year-old physique. Why are they there? Because I didn't listen to my mom, of course. She told me not to scratch, but I just couldn't help it.
Obviously, most of us couldn't help it. The majority of Baby Boomers have chicken pox scars.
There is really nothing unattractive about them. I remember having some heart-rending crushes on a young lady or two who had the telltale marks of a chicken pox infection of the 1960's.
The infection lasted about a week, as I recall. Mom was working as a schoolteacher, and dad had his own job, of course, so I spent the week over at Terry Michael Browning's house.
Such were the easygoing arrangements our parents had with each other. If one mother was unable to stay home with a sick child, she would trade out with other moms who would have sick kids of their own someday that needed watching.
Mumps were another agony that I recall having. My salivary glands swelled to the size of baseballs, or so it seemed. Any sort of movement was sheer agony, and the only relief that was available was orange-flavored Bayer Children's Aspirin, which, as we all know today, will instantly kill any child who takes it. At least I was led to believe such when my own kids were small in the 80's. Interesting, though, that we were given the little white pills by the millions in the 50's and 60's and survived.
The relief that aspirin provided was negligible, and my only alternative was to suffer. The good news was that the suffering didn't last as that with chicken pox. It was a couple of days, as I recall.
Then there were the three-day measles. Also known as German measles and rubella, as much as a fourth of my second-grade class was out at once with the ailment.
As far as I know, I never contracted it.
Rubella was bad news for pregnant mothers who had never had the disease as kids. Their babies were born with defects, or were miscarried. Thus, this disease was aggresively fought by the medical research community in the 60's. The first rubella vaccine was made available in 1969, and I can recall many posters at school announcing the need for us to get vaccinated. Maybe that's why I never got the three-day-measles.
Vaccines against chicken pox and the mumps were developed later, with the result that our own kids and grandkids may have never experienced any of the big three rites of passage that we Boomer kids faced.
Obviously, not EVERY memory we had as kids was one we that want to relive.
Comments (7)
Childhood diseases...makes me glad I am a Baby Boomer not a baby.
Todays' strains of diseases are new and we can get them...so stay away from those grand babies when they get the measles, chicken pox and such.
Here's one for ya'...I had my tonsils out TWICE. How is that for misery? At the age of 4 and then at the tender age of 13...I didn't want any more ice cream at age 13 then I did at age 4!
Thanks for the memories,even the bad ones...
Sharon
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
Posted by Sharon/The Baby Boomer Queen | November 3, 2008 12:59 AM
Posted on November 3, 2008 00:59
I don't remember ever having chicken pox. But since I just turned 57, I have enough trouble remembering what I had for breakfast today. I do remember having the measles and having my tonsils removed. That is when parents tell you that lie: "You can have ALL the ice cream you can eat." Of course, with the throat hurting, you can't eat that much.
Posted by David S Paleg | November 3, 2008 7:44 AM
Posted on November 3, 2008 07:44
I had chicken pox and mumps at Christmas time (in different years)... what a bummer to feel so miserable AND miss all the holiday festivities!
I also remember that there was a 12-year-old boy up the street who died from the mumps. This was in the mid-1960s.
The sickest I ever remember being, however, was when I had scarlet fever in first grade. That was nasty. I missed 2 weeks of school.
Posted by Kenosha Mom | November 3, 2008 7:51 AM
Posted on November 3, 2008 07:51
I had all of the childhood diseases available to someone growing up in the 1050s. I also remember my mother making us wear sunglasses when we had the measles. For some reason I don’t remember, she feared that our eyes would be damaged by bright lights. Who knows!
Posted by Steve Skinner | November 3, 2008 9:07 AM
Posted on November 3, 2008 09:07
I contracted red measles in 1952, mumps in 1953, and chicken pox in 1954 when I was 5 (quite a streak.) With the measles I remember having to stay in a darkened room (like Steve Skinner’s mom) for a week with cool washcloths on my face but I remember little else. With the mumps I remember my ears hurting at first and then the facial swelling along with difficulty eating. The chicken pox was awful and I dug craters in the pustules especially on the top of my head and I still have a couple of facial pocks to this day.
While these were challenging as a child, time heals all wounds but as far as childhood discomfort goes – for me NOTHING was as bad as the times I was exposed to poison ivy. The 1st time required a trip to the hospital and cortisone shots. It was like scratching a sweet itch until one stopped. I am very careful to watch out for it to this day.
In my wife’s early childhood, upon hearing of a local chicken pox outbreak, her mother took her along with her sister around (aged 6 & 3 respectively) to infected neighbors in an attempt to get it over with when they were young. Unfortunately the neighbors were past the infectious stage and her efforts were for naught and later to have miserable consequences.
My children were not immunized with DPT or MMR or any other vaccines (I was and still am one of those rogue anti-vaccination parents when it comes to preventative immunology.) When they each entered kindergarten, state law required a certificate of immunization and each vaccine was dutifully administered.
A few weeks into kindergarten, my daughter who had never been sick a day in her life, presented with unusual symptoms: Earaches, swollen glands, & difficulty eating. A trip to the pediatrician produced bafflement so the Dr. called in his partner, a former medical missionary who promptly diagnosed her condition as the Mumps. He had observed numerous cases in Africa and recognized it immediately, whereas the regular pediatrician had never seen a case which was apparently caused by the MMR vaccine.
Unfortunately my daughter did not inherit my anathema to vaccinations and fortunately my granddaughter has not had any adverse reactions from all the shots to which she has been subjected.
When my daughter was in the 1st grade, she came down with chicken pox and within the week my 13 & 2 year old sons and my wife all contracted it. As I was the only one who had had it, I ended up taking a week off from work to minister to their miseries. Aveeno and baking soda baths with calamine lotion on the spots were the only treatments that helped.
Ron – the reason you were led to believe that baby or any aspirin could kill a child, is due to the strong correlation that viral diseases combined with aspirin may contribute to Reyes Syndrome a potentially fatal illness. Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen are preferred as analgesics and fever reducing agents but acetaminophen can potentially cause liver damage with over dosage.
Posted by Burt | November 3, 2008 8:03 PM
Posted on November 3, 2008 20:03
Rubella pandemics used to wipe out entire populatons.
Posted by Lee | November 4, 2008 2:18 AM
Posted on November 4, 2008 02:18
Are you sure, Lee? My research showed potential birth defects as the biggest threat from the infection. Otherwise, it's basically a three-day inconvenience to children.
Posted by Ron Enderland | November 4, 2008 6:33 PM
Posted on November 4, 2008 18:33