The month of March was a difficult one health wise for my family. The first half of the month my family (myself, husband, and three children who are 3,2, and 8 months) we came down with the stomach 'flu'. Horrible, nasty, God awful affliction. That took us out for about a week and a half as a ravaged our home. When that was done and I had successfully lysoled the entire house twice, we had about a week of decent health and then last week I came down with the actual flu.
Maggie and Henry at her confirmation
I'm still not fully over it, it's clinging like a baby spider monkey to its mother. It doesn't want to let go of it's hold, and let me tell you, it is not fun. Minus the heavy head, clogged sinus, coughing etc. the aches and pains, fevers, chills and sweats had me at the edge were I was almost certain I was going to die. Somewhere between my 103.4 fever and the constant chill that ran throughout my body the reality hit me that this 'simple' illness in today's standards was a killer a little less than a century ago.
I mean I will fully admit when I'm sick I get super sick. While the rest of my family can walk through a room of people stricken with the plague and get a cold I would get the plague plus a cold.
During my illness though it made me think about those who passed from the Flu in my own research. I've had several young, healthy, family members die of the flu, many in the Flu Pandemic of 1918/1919. One in particular that came to my mind was my Great Aunt Maggie. Maggie, was my Paternal Grandfather's elder sister. Maggie was born in 1905, she was the third child and second daughter of my Great Grandparents. During this time they lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sometime between 1910 and 1920, my Great Grandparents would lose both their daughters.
Based off the knowledge passed down to me from my Grandpa to my Dad and my Dad to me and my own research, Helen (their other daughter) passed first before the flu as a younger child. Leaving Henry and Maggie. My Grandpa was a 'surprise' and was born later in life in 1915.
From what I was told the sister my Grandpa remembered was Maggie and the pictures we have of Henry and Maggie have her at about 14/15 years old. A young woman in the prime of her life. A young woman with so much life left to live struck down by a illness in today's world is only a worry for the very young and very old. I know in my younger years I never really took the time to think about how lucky I am to be living in this time where medicine and vaccines are advanced enough to help improve our overall health.
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