I love reenacting. I love the clothes, the manners, the slow way of life, and pretending to be someone who lived nearly two centuries ago. So much about stepping back in time is just really, really fun, and we tend to romanticize how things were back in the old days.
And then every now and then, I am reminded, slapped in the face reminded, why NOW is so much better than THEN.
Today, while doing some genealogical research, I stumbled across a compilation of causes of death for people who lived in Grayson County, KY, where my ancestors had lived since the early 1800s. I began scrolling through the years to see if I could find any of my people. I ran across a couple, but what I found was one of the main reasons I am so glad to be alive now instead of then: healthcare.
Looking at the lists, one of the first things that struck me was how very, very young most of the people who died were. Babies, children, and teenagers made up the majority of deaths in several years. Hardly any people had "old age" listed as cause of death. Instead, what was listed time after time after time were deaths from illnesses that are basically non-existent (or easily cured) in today's world...typhus...scarlet fever...croup...whooping cough...fever...worms...diphtheria...measles...so many deaths that are preventable today. So many lives gone so very young.
There were families that lost two and three children to typhus or scarlet fever. One family lost 5 family members. Another lost 4 children. My own great-grandmother lost one child to typhus and the other to the flu. I saw all of those causes of death listed and thanked God for vaccines.
Many people died from "milk sickness," which is caused by drinking milk from cows who have eaten the snakeroot plant, the same thing that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother. One family lost a father and 2 children. Another lost a mother and 3 kids. Just from drinking milk.
As I sat there skimming those names and ages and causes of death, I felt blessed to live during a time when so much illness and death can be prevented, when my kids are safe from measles, mumps, and rubella, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus, from typhus and scarlet fever and worms and croup. I thought of the night Emily had a croup attack, and we gave her a breathing treatment, but her lips started turning blue anyway, and we called 911. She got to ride to the hospital in an ambulance and come home the same night. What if that was not available to us? It makes me wonder what future generations will marvel at when they look back on our causes of death.
So, while I love dressing up and pretending it is 1816, I am ever so grateful to live in 2018.
http://genealogytrails.com/ken/grayson/graysoncountydeaths.html
