dear ms b-in search of the past

DEAR MS B-IN SEARCH OF THE PAST

ms b
welcome to the new year

yesterday my historian brother and my rainwater brother
and i went on a road trip
no ms b it wasnt like that movie with that name
yes we ate at a restaurant
unlike the movie
we were careful not to make the waitress and cook mad at us

we went in search of the past

we went on a trip just 2 hours north of here
to look at cemeteries
yes ms b thats right
cemeteries
thats where people who die get buried

but ms b
it not sad going there or scary
since these folks have left us some over a century ago

now ms b

when you walk around these cemeteries this one in particular
you find the name of
my grandfathers great uncles and aunts and nieces and nephews
that would be my great something uncles and aunts
my cousins

interesting is the name of this cemetery in texas
is called liberty cemetery
the same name of the cemetery where my grandfather and grandmother
thats your great great grandfather and grandmother
are buried in arkansas
it seems our ancestor donated the land for the cemetery
thats what that historical marker said

ms b
what stands out is that
people usually didnt live to be old
women seemed to die younger
many in childbirth
how do i know that
there is a grave of a young mother whose newborn or young infant
is buried right beside her
now we have made advances in healthcare since
like improved maternal and child health
immunizations
birth control
that has made those graves to not be present in more modern
graveyards
now there are young folks who die from car wrecks drug overdoses
suicides
things that didnt kill young folks back then

we always seem to find something bad to die from young

then looking a the original ancestors who came from
southern arkansas to this remote place in west texas
wonder why they made that change

looking at the graveyard
there is momma and daddy
then 3 or 3 small unmarked graves
stringing along side the momma and daddys graves
i saw that at my grandfathers and grandmothers graves
those little graves
guessing why they are there so young
my guess is communicable diseases
all preventable now a days with our immunizations
if we get them

then looking at this grave
notice the year of deaths
1918
spread throughout this graveyard that seems to be a prominent
year that and 1917
of the years many there died

these two teenagers died in 1918
my cousins
probably from the pandemic flu of that year
spread throughout the world
from world war 1
no one had any immunity to this disease
sad
its preventable today

i on my way home yesterday
yes it was sad as i thought about it
all those deaths were needless had they been born a hundred years later
i just thought of all those cousins of several generations
that didnt get a chance to be born

then
add to that of the wars we always seem to get into
in this cemetery it was the civil war or should i say uncivil war
a war about slavery
a black mark on our history
then world war 1
so many young men were lost
more loss of future cousins

it seems society never learns a lesson
heck there are now teenagers who have lived in our country
all their lives with our country at war
seems sad doesnt it

ms b solve this one for me

now ms b
another sad thing
those things that killed those relatives of mine and yours
poverty poor or no healthcare lack of immunizations for whatever reason
the loss of female healthcare
ms b
thats happening now in the us
thats sad miss b
we are a rich country
but
we rate lower than the other rich countries
sad
to say
but
the state i live in is one of the worst for those things

now ms b
im hoping we have learned something from our past
im just not sure though

heres hoping
that your generation will make it better
have a good year

the organicgreen doctor