It was an ordinary day. And...I finally got an answer to my question after 70+ years! My answer was to my question..."Why don't I have a vaccination mark on my left arm like all my friends did when I was in elementary school from 1950 to 1956?" In order to attend school at Brecht Elementary School in the Manheim Township School System, you had to be vaccinated for smallpox. And...that vaccination hurt when you got it and also left a mark about the size of a penny on your arm. My first shot, while in 1st grade, hurt...but disappeared from my arm after about two weeks. That shot was administered by the school doctor, who happened to be my family doctor, in the school nurse's office. I was checked by my doctor in a few weeks and was told I needed to have a second shot, since the first shot didn't work. I was so upset and I'm sure I must have cried myself to sleep a few nights before I finally had a second shot...this time by my family doctor in the school nurse's office once again. Remember...I was 6 years old at the time and hated to have shots in my arm. Well, that mark disappeared just as the first one did. And...guess what? I was told to go to my family doctor and have it administered one more time. My mom made an appointment with Dr. Martin and took me to his office. He looked at me when I arrived and I could just feel the sympathy he had for me when he grabbed his needle once again. There must have been a law at the time that you had to have at least 3 tries at the innoculation for smallpox before you were declared that you had full immunity due to natural immunity. To this day I have no red mark on my arm like most people do who are my age. Eventually smallpox was irradiated and the vaccination was no longer required. Our three children were never required to have the smallpox vaccination before they entered school after 1976. Today, most states require shots for polio, measles, mumps and rubella before you enter school...and I still symphasize with each and every one of them when they have to have their shots. I know exactly how they felt, since I went through it in 1950...three times...for no good reason! What's funny is that I have no fear or nervousness about having to go for shots for just about anything and everything today. Bring 'em on! I'm an old hand by now at getting my shots. Only difference is that Dr. Martin is no longer around to give me my shots. He would be so proud of me! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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