Wednesday, September 2, 2020

No one in my family ever spoke to me about the 1918 Spanish Flu in the 1950s

My parents spoke often about the Great Depression and how awful it was for them and how even more awful World War II was for them but never never never did anyone mention the Spanish Flu pandemic  that killed more soldiers than died in World War I fighting between 1918 and 1920.

Looking back now, this seems very strange to me. Does this also mean that children 20 or 30 years from now also won't be told about the coronavirus? Maybe so. Maybe this much death from a pandemic is completely unfathomable to anyone. People seem to understand the deaths in war but cannot cope with the reality of a pandemic or plague. I think this has been true down through history.

People just cannot cope with what they just went through in any useful way.

For example, I knew all my grandparents. Did Any of them every mention the 1918 Flu Pandemic even once to me? No!

Why was this? They would talk about World war I, World War II, the Great Depression and almost anything else since they were born in the 1870s and 1880s. But they NEVER talked to me once about the Spanish Flu pandemic which took place between 1918 and 1920!

Let's not do this to our children and grandchildren too. Let's remember this so we might be able to prevent the next pandemic which is sure to happen eventually to our children or grandchildren!

They would have all 4 been somewhere between mid 30s and mid 40s in 1918  most of them when the Spanish Flu Pandemic happened. Why didn't they tell their grandchildren about this awful time so they might prepare for the next pandemic or plague?

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