I was born in 1958 so I remember getting the smallpox vaccine, which left a scar on your arm, and the polio vaccine which was administered orally. But vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella had not yet been developed so I also remember spending weeks in bed in first and second grades as I got one infectious disease after another –measles, mumps, chicken pox, and German measles. The joke in our family was that with each bout of sickness my mother transformed my bedroom into a little hospital room, but it was scary being sick all the time and afraid of losing my vision when I had German measles. I am deeply grateful that my grandchildren are protected from the diseases that led to me being marked absent from school for weeks in first and second grade. I feel sorry for the kids who will endure what I did (and worse) because their parents are misinformed about vaccine safety.
