Scarlet fever. Those two words once caused terror in the minds of parents and children alike before the development of antibiotics. Picture this -- six boys and girls in one family afflicted with this dreadful disease. That was us when I was in the sixth grade. Eunice, being older, escaped the disease which struck the rest of us, me on down to JereLyn, the baby.
I don't know who diagnosed the disease because the only doctor we saw was from the health department posting a sign on the door which might have as well said "Condemned." Not only could we not have visitors, we could not go to school, church or the grocery store. We scratched and suffered but the worst hurt was being treated as criminals and outcasts.
When I returned to school, my classmates crowded into a corner of the room as far from me as they could get. The teacher asked if it was true that my little sister had had scarlet fever.I confessed, "I had it." Students began to run and scream. The teacher allowed me to make up my missed work, but Eunice probably missed being grammar school valedictorian. A time I almost forgot and with I had.
I don't know who diagnosed the disease because the only doctor we saw was from the health department posting a sign on the door which might have as well said "Condemned." Not only could we not have visitors, we could not go to school, church or the grocery store. We scratched and suffered but the worst hurt was being treated as criminals and outcasts.
When I returned to school, my classmates crowded into a corner of the room as far from me as they could get. The teacher asked if it was true that my little sister had had scarlet fever.I confessed, "I had it." Students began to run and scream. The teacher allowed me to make up my missed work, but Eunice probably missed being grammar school valedictorian. A time I almost forgot and with I had.
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