Thank you for this beautifully written story. I do have a sad story in my family history. My mother only told it in bits, just once about how she threw a ball into a fenced in area surrounding an electrical transformer. The brother who cared for the other children, including my mother, his youngest sister, was killed trying to fetch the ball. The family was broken up after that event. She did not tell us his name.

But here’s what struck me: the research you did on the consequences of measles, a rare brain inflammation that could lead to erratic behavior and in the case of your family, homicidal and suicidal violence. Please keep seeking outlets for publishing this piece. In these days of politically violent anti-vaxxers (a woman threw her own blood at members of the California State Senate and a man violently attacked the pediatrician legislator who sponsored the bill to tighten vaccination exceptions) this information is vital.

I was deeply saddened to read of your family’s tragedy. Your generosity in sharing honors the story and your grandmother.

Thank you.