\u201cTelevision!\u201d shouted one of my kids.\u00a0 \u201cCoca-Cola!\u201d squealed my niece (who had been sorely disappointed during the lunch break to learn that the only soft drink available in the museum\u2019s \u201ctavern\u201d was a bubbly beverage known as ginger beer).\u00a0 A nephew offered his response:\u00a0 \u201cCars!\u201d By this time, other visitors seemed to be pondering the question, too.\u00a0 A pint-sized stranger in the room with us called out in a hesitant, high-pitched lisp:\u00a0 \u201cToileth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom encouraged all of the children with a hearty, \u201cGood answers!\u201d\u00a0 She then continued, \u201cHow about the medicines your mommy gives you when you have an ear infection or a sore throat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow \u2018bout ath-ma?\u00a0 I have ath-ma and my mommy thquirth a \u2018haler in my mouf when I can\u2019t breave!\u201d\u00a0 (Despite her mother\u2019s prompting, the little stranger wasn\u2019t about to abandon our merry band.)<\/p>\n
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old bethpage village restoration<\/span><\/span>\u201cGreat<\/i>\u00a0question!\u201d Mom nodded in the child\u2019s direction and motioned for her to move closer.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think that back when this village was new, the mommies had inhalers to give to children who had asthma?\u00a0 Do you think mommies back then had the same medicines we use today?\u201d\u00a0 She was now on a roll and for the next few minutes, children (and quite a few adults) in a room about the size of a walk-in closet listened while my mother delivered a short but classroom-worthy lecture about the development of antibiotics in the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0Century.\u00a0 She further explained why some illnesses in 1850 were always life-threatening and often fatal but are now easily cured.\u00a0 Weaving into her lesson a few easily understood examples of common childhood diseases, she piqued the interest of children and adults alike.\u00a0 By the time we were ready to move on to the next room, Mom had a following considerably more numerous than it had been upon our arrival.<\/p>\n I was recently reminded of this particular daytrip to Old Bethpage \u2013 one of dozens made over the years \u2013 when a young cousin posted wonderful news on her Facebook page.\u00a0 In her status update, my cousin announced that her daughter, who was diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago, at the age of nine, had just returned from her oncologist\u2019s office, where she had received a clean bill of health.\u00a0 Furthermore, the doctor announced, much to their delight, that they would not need to schedule another follow-up appointment for four to six whole months!\u00a0 Naturally, while we are\u00a0all<\/i>\u00a0thrilled, my cousin, as a mother, is\u00a0ecstatic<\/i>.\u00a0 Medicine has come a long way in the last 75-100 years, for sure.\u00a0 What you must understand, though, is that my cousin \u2013 or, more specifically (and in the parlance of her passion) my second cousin, once removed \u2013 is a genealogist.\u00a0 Having pored over thousands of documents in the course of her work, she has debunked (but also verified) several long-embraced and oft-shared family anecdotes dating back more than 100 years.\u00a0 In the course of her research, she has read hundreds of birth and death certificates.\u00a0 On how many of the latter, I wonder, has she seen listed a cause of death that would be\u00a0unimaginable<\/i>\u00a0to us today?<\/p>\n My hope for this New Year is that in decades to come, future genealogists and lovers of history \u2013 people like my cousin and mom \u2013 will look at death certificates issued in the early 21st<\/sup>\u00a0Century and wonder what life was like when people succumbed to cancer, malaria, complications of HIV, and systemic infections.\u00a0 Perhaps at some reconstruction of a typical 21st<\/sup>-Century American town, a school-aged visitor to that living museum will lecture to her own attentive audience:<\/p>\n \u201cMy grandma had thumthing called ath-ma when she wath little. Her mommy uthed to give her a thing called a \u2018haler when she wath thick, but people don\u2019t get thick like that anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.<\/span>” mce_’ + path + ‘\\” + prefix + ‘:’ + addy3247 + ‘\\’>’+addy_text3247+'<\\\/a>’; \/\/–><\/p>\n Follow us on Twitter – @DigiPrintNews<\/p>\n