THE POLIO VACCINE PIONEER

Karen's Polio Test, Olathe, KS

THE POLIO VACCINE PIONEER

 I spent the afternoon sorting items from my wife Karen’s childhood including some scrapbooks that contained all manner of things that a young girl would consider important in her life at the time.  I kept a scrapbook which contained clippings of the scorecards from my illustrious bantam baseball career that were religiously published in the Emporia Gazette.  I scuttled it years ago when I realized that these faded clippings were no longer relevant to my life. 

Karen’s collection included early crayon artwork, holiday cards, scattered school photos that were passed out at year’s end, playbills from school performances (some bearing her maiden name for various roles), napkins from special dinners or vacations, etc.  It occurred to me that most of these items we kept in our youth reinforced our enthusiasm and growth towards adulthood but really didn’t have much use as we moved along in life.

And then I came across a surprising May 13, 1954 article in The Olathe Mirror newspaper that caught my attention, as the world is now in the midst of testing and inoculating everyone for the COVID-19 virus. The lead in to the front-page photos stated that “second grade children of Johnson County schools will receive this week their second inoculation of the vaccine which may open the way for the control of paralytic polio.”  In the photo Karen was documented as the first girl to receive the shot at Central school and told her classmates waiting their turn in the corridor, “Didn’t hurt a bit.”

The phrase “may open the way” caught my attention so I did a bit of researching on the web.  I found that president FDR contracted polio in 1921 which left him paralyzed.  In 1938 he helped create the March of Dimes which enlisted the star power of celebrities from Mickey Rooney to Mickey Mouse.  A neighbor boy that I played with contracted polio and was in an iron lung until he actually recovered.  So, polio got personal.  There was no vaccine to stop it. 

Polls taken in the years following WWII revealed that the only thing Americans feared more than polio was nuclear war.  The current coronavirus pandemic primarily affects older adults while the poliovirus attacks children.  It arrived each summer ultimately closing swimming pools, movie theaters, birthday parties, etc.  I remember people lining Commercial Street from block to block with dimes placed on wooden boards to finance research.

Then in 1952 a little-known scientist named Jonas Salk and his team at the University of Pittsburg developed a “killed-virus” vaccine by growing samples of the virus and then deactivating them by adding formaldehyde so that they could no longer reproduce.  This tricked the immune system into manufacturing protective antibodies.  He then tested his vaccine on thousands of monkeys, then children at two Pittsburg institutions and then his entire family. 

I found an article that stated “on April 26, 1954, six-year-old Randy Kerr was injected with the Salk vaccine at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. By the end of June, an unprecedented 1.8 million people, including hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren, joined him in becoming “polio pioneers.”  In April 1955, it was announced that the vaccine was effective and safe, and a nationwide inoculation campaign began.

And then it finally struck me!  My wife Karen and her second-grade schoolmates were inoculated in May 1954 in the southern Kansas City suburbs.  That was just after the first child was vaccinated and before the vaccine was approved for public use.  She was one of the initial Polio Pioneers that led to the suppression of the dreaded poliovirus pandemic!

She never mentioned it and I would have never discovered it if I hadn’t taken the time to read a faded, long-forgotten newspaper article with her second grade photo.

CONFIDENCE, FAITH AND LOVE

Daughter & Grandson, Chicago, IL

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

“Once all the villagers decided to pray for a desperately needed rain.  On the day of prayer, everyone gathered in the central square, but only one boy brought an umbrella.  That is confidence.

We plan big things for tomorrow, in spite of no knowledge of the future.  That is faith.

We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and we have children.  That is love.” --Unknown  

I believe every generation is challenged with extraordinary circumstances that can be paralyzing to some people and challenging to others.  Our parents were part of The Greatest Generation that defeated the Axis forces that sought to destroy our country and way of life in WWII.  My wife and I then grew up in a time when school children were taught to crawl under their desks or sit in hallways in the possible event of a nuclear war.  Two of the first atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan to end WWII.  We were taught that the world was rapidly approaching a climate change that would soon be irreversible.  We were told that the world population was multiplying at a rate that was unsustainable.  Zero Population Growth was the mantra of the day.  The United States had entered into a cold war with Russia.  Russia had launched a Sputnik satellite that circled the planet over our heads.  I still remember a morning news report about a man murdering his roommate in an argument over a pair of socks.

We processed all of this and held off having a child.  And then we reasoned that we should place our trust in our creator and the uncertain future as all previous generations had done. A Christmas 1982 message reminded us of another couple that made the right decision for all mankind in the midst of extraordinary circumstances.  And after all, we wouldn’t be here to even make the choice if our parents hadn’t done the same.  Nature terminated our first attempt because the extraordinary process of creating a human being had experienced a problem.  But we still persisted and were blessed with a bright and enthusiastic baby girl.  Almost four years ago she and her husband experienced a similar process but then were blessed with a bright and enthusiastic baby boy.  Loving people I know are now expecting babies in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

The depth and strength of the human spirit can be uplifting.  And the power and guidance of our creator can be the source of much confidence, faith and love for the future.  For the future belongs to those who believe in it and embrace it.

A 2020 CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

Jupiter & Saturn, Jamestown, NC

A Departing Flight from PTI, Jamestown, NC

EMMANUEL!

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned.

--Isaiah 9:2

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is quite visible in the SW sky tonight!  Mankind has looked up to the heavens forever to seek out the timing of meaningful signs.  

It’s interesting to note that two vaccines that can stop a worldwide pandemic just came together at this Christmastime to prevent its spread.  Perhaps this is a celestial reminder that the answer to all the hate in this world arrived under a similar sign over 2,000 years ago if the world would just pay attention.

Today is also the eve of the 2020 winter solstice.  Tomorrow marks the shortest day of the year in this northern hemisphere where the sun (sol) appears to stand still (sistere) before reversing direction.  Days will now begin to lengthen and we will experience an additional half hour of sunlight in just one month.  This marks the “rebirth” of the sun in addition to the imminent celebration of the Christ child’s birth and the Light of the world. 

It’s a time of regeneration, renewal and self-reflection which we are more than prepared for by this time!

CHRISTMAS MOON RISING

 

Christmas Moon, Jamestown, NC

“When man reaches for God we call it religion.

When God reaches for man we call it Christmas.”

LETTING GO

Clutter, Jamestown, NC

Trophies, Jamestown, NC

Many of us are now spending more time at home than we would probably want to admit due to the 2020 Corona pandemic.  And although it’s been taxing on a society that has always enjoyed the freedom of movement, that’s the best plan right now until a vaccine is widely administered.  As a consequence, this “home alone” time has forced me to finally tackle the burgeoning storage room we had built over the garage, since basements aren’t practical in the Carolinas.

Our family transferred here from the Kansas City area where full basements are common.  And they become great accumulators of all sorts of material items, like the excess we thought we wanted to keep from my mother-in law’s house as one little example.  Much of our other material baggage is on us, however!  And businesses like Containers-R-Us only make it more efficient to stash away material possessions that never see the light of day again as we use our home like a storage unit!  Not to mention that we live in a consumer-driven culture where we are bombarded by messages like “we want it and we want it now!”

There’s a lot of reasons we hold onto things, primarily procrastination.  Guilty as charged!  Other good excuses include time is precious, we’re sentimental creatures, possibly needing something later, waiting for other family members to decide on items, waiting for winter weather when you’re forced inside, etc.  But possessions can become an anchor on our life that demand time, space and attention.  We had a saying at work that “the time it takes to finish a task is directly proportional to the time available.”  And I believe its corollary is “the amount of stuff that accumulates in a house is directly proportional to the space available” --like storage rooms and walk-in closets.  Documents are another challenge and the most tedious, as they must be examined piece by piece and then possibly shredded.

Our focus needs to be on reasons for letting go of possessions.  I don’t even attempt to sell things because I’ve been blessed with being born in America, having a loving and supportive family, applying myself to education (after a life lesson start), and working hard at a profession that was growing and ripe with opportunity.  And I’ve learned that it’s much easier and fulfilling to part with possessions if I know they can be useful to others.

Marie Kondo has gained fame for leading the way of letting go by asking one simple question when handling material possessions: “Does this spark joy in my life?”  If not, you won’t start liking something you haven’t used in at least a year.  And there’s the old 80/20 rule that applies to so many things in life like clothing, household items, etc.--we only use 20% of the things in our possession 80% of the time.  George Carlin famously defined a house as “a pile of stuff with a roof over it.”  A home is where love lives.  It’s good to pause life now and again to affirm we abide in a home.

And finally, I really got off to a good start in letting go by texting a photograph of some trophies to my daughter Beth in Chicago and asking if she wanted to keep or discard them?  She replied “I’ve managed to find success without trophies.”  

There is great satisfaction in applying ourselves to be successful and charitable as long as we remain mindful of treating worldly possessions as trophies.  

YOU’RE DEAD TO ME

A Bonding Relationship, Chicago, IL

“You’re dead to me” is an old English saying that was used to announce that another was disowned or had slighted you and they would never again be part of one’s social circle in body or in spirit.  This situation was dire in ancestral times when social circles rarely exceeded two hundred people.  Your circle of influence never wavered from those same people throughout your lifetime.  In today’s rapidly changing world, many people are forced to move with the job market to remain viable and support their family which necessitates starting over in multiple locations.  

Our married life involved childhood homes in different towns and multiple housing changes in a metropolitan area before moving out of state to follow the opportunities.  As a consequence, necessity drove us to establish entirely new social circles, especially with others who were confronted with similar circumstances.  Building relationships takes time and effort and becomes even more difficult when distance separates you while new business and social relationships must be formed. 

This concept also applies to our relationship with our Creator.  Imagine sitting near an outdoor campfire or a fire pit on your patio some evening.  As you withdraw to retrieve something, you inevitably begin to cool off.  Who moved—you or the fire?  This condition can even apply to your relation with the world in general.  Paul writes in Galatians 6:14 “I will boast only about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; for by means of his cross the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world.”  And God can also be dead to us if we move away from him even though he never moved.

The tragic condition of Alzheimer’s where someone slowly loses their memory is a case where they subsequently lose touch with everyone they were ever associated with in life, including those that have always been close to them.  We become dead to them through no intention of either of us.  Friends and even family in past situations slowly release the bonds of relationship simply because of distance and circumstance.  But I’ve experienced many reunions where we pick up right where we left off months or even years ago upon meeting once again.

Social ostracism of any kind is troublesome and there are good examples indicating that to forgive is divine.  For one thing, carrying a grudge against someone is like letting them live rent free in your head.  For another, it feels good to forgive and frees both individuals.  And at least in this modern era, we now have technology that also expands our ability to maintain some semblance of relationship with our wider circle of influence.

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.”—Orson Wells 

“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”—Matthew 28:20