My Take: Think of your family, future when it comes to the vaccine

The old adage of the apple not falling far from the tree appears to be appropriate as I age. In retirement, my father did not golf, fish or bowl. Unlike me, he waited until his early 70s to take that proverbial gold watch and hang it up.  

One of his biggest passions in his retirement, apart from taking care of my Mom (whose health was none too good) was studying art. They both seemed to take a real interest in that subject. Living near Chicago they got memberships to the Art Institute and took us there. Me? At the time not a big fan. Now? Quite the opposite.

Herrick has a new book titled "Dutch and Flemish Masterworks." Like my now deceased father, I am also becoming a big fan of art. As such, I checked said book out and proceeded to pore over it. It is interesting to me on two counts. The first is my interest in Dutch history and the second my growing interest in the work of the old master artists. Some fun facts deal with the appeal of dance, drink and card playing in the larger Dutch cities in the 17th and 18th centuries. Not we descendants of the good A.C. Van Raalte, however!

Frans Post was born in Haarlem in 1612 and died in the same city in 1680. Mr. Post is best known for his depictions of life in a Dutch colony in Brazil in the 17th century. I knew of the North American colonies and the east Asian colonies, but was unaware of this one. The book states that these Brazilian works of Post are exceptional due to their “subject matter, freshness and originality."

Now comes the bad news. Mr. Post basically gave up his craft 11 years before his death. The reason for doing so one might query? The plague epidemic of 1664. As a result of that scourge, Mr. Post lost two children, his brother, his father-in-law and his wife. He was described as “having fallen to drinking and becoming shaky” as a result!

Fast forward to the present day. Poor Post had no medications nor medical treatments to save his wonderful family. We today do have such recourse. This recourse is, of course, a proven vaccine and the use of masks and avoiding super spreader type events. Time has marched on. Scientific knowledge has progressed to the point that we can avoid suffering the same fates as Posts’ family and the man himself. 

Personally, I can think of no greater source of stability or love than my immediate family. As a teacher I told my kids that, too. My biggest joy as a man was being able to financially support my family and insure our comfort and success. As such, I got the vaccine. I wear the silly little masks. If I were to lose either my son or wife, I might find myself in the same straights as the awesome Mr. Post.

There is nothing political about this. It is a silly little jab in the arm. It is usually free. It is a silly little piece of cloth over the nose and mouth. For me, it is worse. My hearing aids tend to come off when I remove the mask, and those suckers are expensive! We have an option good people like Post didn’t.

Be like Nike: Just do it! One can pretty well imagine that if Post and his family had been given the opportunity to vaccinate against this scourge they would have done so! There is no upside in politicizing this issue and the downside is horrendous. Get the shot. Wear the mask. We all depend upon you! 

— Jeff Raywood resides in Holland.