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thread100 t1_je3c9rq wrote

Took our kids through an old cemetery when they were 8-10. When they realized how many were for children back then, it freaked them out.

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beyond_hatred t1_je3u5ao wrote

Good opportunity for a lesson on the value of vaccines. The risk of infant mortality was so high that children sometimes didn't even get a name until their first birthday.

There's cruel irony in the fact that vaccines are victims of their own success. Most people alive today have never seen firsthand the damage caused by smallpox, polio, and other vaccine-preventable diseases, so they think it isn't real.

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occasional_cynic t1_je4vbw8 wrote

Modern sanitation has been even more important than vaccines. It had to have been terrifying not knowing whether your family would die from one winter to the next.

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Double-Abalone7052 t1_je4lxwx wrote

Yeah there’s a baby section in the cemetery where my family plot is located. It’s sad

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beyond_hatred t1_je4m7n8 wrote

Do all the infant headstones have names? I think I remember seeing some that only say, "baby".

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raptorjesus2 t1_je4swwp wrote

Anecdotal but I grew up in in Hingham, MA that has one of the oldest cemeteries in the country. I used to walk through quite a bit and there was lots of what I am assuming was family plots that would have smaller headstones that would say "baby", and or "son/daughter", etc. Seemed so odd to me. I could only assume these families died at the same time from something tragic. But there was lots of plots that were like that.

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philandere_scarlet t1_jedcxgk wrote

stillbirths and babies that were obviously not going to live often weren't named. among my family i've seen an "our darling" lastname.

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[deleted] t1_je5cun9 wrote

These days the tragedy is that people aren't taking -any- vaccine because big companies & governments thought it was a good idea to lie so blatantly about the effectiveness and safety of the covid vaccine.

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PophamSP t1_je4vs6v wrote

Lots of women of child bearing age, too.

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thread100 t1_je56cwy wrote

Add to this the number of pregnancies needed to result in 3 adult children was sad.

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