In the fall of 1918, there developed an strain of influenza that turned into the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year in the early twentieth-century than in four years of the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) in 1347-1351. The pandemic of 1918-1919 caused more deaths than the Great War (World War I) at somewhere between 20-40 million people worldwide. The pandemic was a global disaster known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" and was so devastating that the average life span in the U.S. was decreased by 10 years. The mortality rate was at a staggering 2.5%; other strains of influenza have a mortality rate of only about 0.1%.
This particular virus strain hit hard ages 15 to 35, with people becoming sick while simply going about their daily activities. The virus was so contagious and spread through human carriers, along trade routes, and through shipping lines. The war also was said to have enabled the influenza to spread much more quickly.
The "Spanish Flu", or so the pandemic was called, circled the globe with most of humanity feeling its effects. The origins of this strain of influenza is still unknown but is thought to have had origins in China in a rare genetic shift of the virus. In the U.S., the flu first appeared in the Boston area and was introduced there through the busy sea port which was handling hundreds of shipments of machinery and supplies for the war effort. By the time the flu had its grip on the world, 1/4 of the United States was affected and 1/5 of the world's population was either ill or dead. The pandemic became so frightening that the public health department made it mandatory that everyone wear guaze masks when out in public (although little did they know that the tiny microbes would pass right through the holes in the guaze!). Stores could not have sales for fear of too many people coming into close contact with each other and spreading the virus even more, and even funerals were limited to 15 minute services. (Pine boxes were seen lining the sidewalks of Boston!)
As quickly as the influenza took control of the world's population, it just as quickly began to weaken and die out. Fewer and Fewer people became sick, and therefore, deaths became much less frequent. Could this pandemic happen again... some experts wonder if this Bird Flu might be the next global pandemic. Let's hope that our public health officials in this country as well as in other countries worldwide will be able to monitor and control this particular new strain of influenza...the alternative could be a repeat of the paralyzing death that gripped the world in 1918.

sylvia hamilton

I guess what it boils down to these days is that I would like for someone to cook for me on Thanksgiving and Christmas instead of me doing the cooking. It's not that I mind the cooking; it's just that I could use a change of scenery. I am so exhausted after the fall semester at school these last few years that all of the holiday festivities now tend to get pushed to the side as I finish up this essay or that essay and stress over oral presentations. I think that what I enjoy the most out of the whole holiday season these days is the Christmas music and the Christmas movies. I love the old Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase and I love Black Christmas with Olivia Hussey and I love Miracle on 34th Street and I especially love the original HOME ALONE cause that was my youngest daughter's favorite movie for many years. I will miss my Kitty this Christmas (he was fourteen years old when he died this year and we had had him since he was 6 weeks old). Christmases should get better and better through the years but they have not. It seems harder every year to get everyone together since none of my children live at home anymore, and I think that I now seem to get very melancholy whenever people begin to mention that Christmas is right around the corner. But I will hang the evergreens and the red bows and the holiday fruit wreaths and decorate the biggest tree that I can get into the house because, after all, Christmas only comes once a year -- Thank goodness!


S Hamilton

I don't think about my grandparents as much as I used to for they have both been dead for over twenty years now. When I do think of them I feel very lucky to have had two such warm and loving individuals as part of my young life. I remember my visits to their home with great fondness as I reminisce over the old farm house they lived in in Bastrop, Louisiana with the huge garden and the snakey, overgrown pond and the curious salt lick that supplied the dozen or so cows that my Papa kept-- for what I never really knew. I remember the dogs they had, one named Buster in particular. I loved Buster and I remember the ticks that me and my sister Mary Ann also got on us and how my mom used to have to check us girls every night before we went to bed to be sure we were tick free. I remember the old propane tank and the old propane heaters in the tiny two bedroom house with the even tinier kitchen. I remember my grandmother's (I called her Annie and this was really her name but I didn't know it for many years after) flowers and how much she loved them and how proud she was of them when they would grow and bloom. I remember my Papa's old garage for it leaned over at about a 30% angle to the right and parking in there was at your own risk. I remember my grandmother's cooking with her homemade biscuits, and her fresh cream style corn, and her fresh homemade pickles and relish and preserves that she kept under the bed in the extra bedroom that me and my sister slept in when we were visiting. I remember the cold cold winters when we came for Christmas and the six handmade quilts that my Annie would put on top of Mary Ann and myself so that we would not freeze to death during the night (the little heaters didn't work so good). I remember the town of Bastrop and how it always stunk cause there was a papermill there and how me and my sister always made funny faces whenever we all went to town to see my aunt Flossie. I remember walking down the old gravel road to visit my grandmother's neighbors (their house was rather like the Bumpases on that movie called A Christmas Story) and how proud she was that we girls had come to visit so she could show us off, and most of all I remember how I used to wait for my Papa to come home from work when we would visit in the summertime, and as soon as I saw him come through the gate I would run as fast as I could off the big old gray slatted porch right for his arms. He always knew that he had to catch me or else! And I guess I remember the most how very loved and welcomed and blessed we always felt whenever we got to be around these two wonderful people....you sure can't beat memories like these, and well, I guess I still miss them a whole lot.

sylvia hamilton

Today I was once again thinking about the fact that I will finish school and graduate in May. It is kind of sad for me to think about being through Where have the last 4 years gone? Believe it or not I have had the best time going to college, even though a good majority of the other, much younger students have often approached me with caution and suspicion, all the while wondering WHY in the world I have invaded their space. That's OK however; I understand and wonder this same thing myself some days.
Now I must again make a decision on whether to stay in Oklahoma and perhaps go on to graduate school or should I move on. But move on to where?? As I get older I think maybe I should live nearer my oldest child down in the hill country of Texas, but to move again boggles my mind. I ask myself WHEN will I feel like I am home to stay? Maybe home is where ever one feels the happiest, but perhaps this is the problem...WHERE have I felt the happiest?
Well, that was way back in the 80s when my children were much younger and still in school in East Texas, and I was someone else with a very different life than what I am leading now. I cannot go back to that time nor should I. I guess that means I will need to go forward and keep looking for that place where I feel happiest. Then and only then will I be home to stay.
Sylvia Hamilton