(TW- child death)

We went for a walk through a cemetery today. Lots of old ones around here. We noticed a mausoleum that was interesting-looking, then we started doing the math of the long list of names on the outside wall and realized they were all kids. Seven or eight of them

From one family. Most were under 3. There was one 6 year old and one 11 year old. I cannot imagine a modern family having to go through that.

Vaccines and modern medicine are a fucking miracle and we don’t really know how much of one. How we’ve gotten to this point where if a family loses ONE child it’s unusual, a huge tragedy...but people routinely used to lose several

I don’t know if people living in modern conditions can really grasp on an emotional level how different our experience of illness and mortality is from our ancestors’

And we’re seeing the results of that now. People *cannot believe* that they are vulnerable to an epidemic. They truly cannot grasp that kind of risk because it doesn’t go along with how we’ve experienced illness in the modern era. It doesn’t feel real

That’s part of why studying history is important. And I think regularly walking through old graveyards can make it more visceral and real