Grandparents for Vaccines is featured in Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper in an article written by journalist Meghan Rabbitt titled They Remember a World Without Vaccines. I was interviewed for the article along with Donna Gaffney, and much of our conversation centered on the role storytelling plays in public health and why grandparents telling their stories about life before vaccines can be so powerful.

The article explains that many grandparents remember polio not as history, but as something that affected children they knew. Grandparents for Vaccines contributors remember measles not as a mild childhood illness, but as something that could hospitalize children and change lives. They also remember what families worried about before vaccines changed what childhood looked like in this country. These are not abstract memories; they are lived experiences. When those experiences are shared as stories, they become a form of public health education.

The article also discusses the growing influence of what some people are calling “grandfluencers.” Grandparents are powerful voices in families, communities, and social media, not because we are trying to be influencers, but because we are trusted. We speak from lived experience, from memory, and from love for our grandchildren. Our influence does not come from algorithms or marketing strategies. It comes from credibility and from having lived long enough to remember what we risk forgetting.

I am grateful to journalist Meghan Rabbitt for telling this story with care and thoughtfulness, and to Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper for creating a publication that makes space for conversations about health, community, purpose, and social change. The Sunday Paper is a weekly digital news magazine and newsletter that arrives every Sunday, featuring essays, interviews, and reporting focused on meaningful living and social impact. 

I encourage you to read and share They Remember a World Without Vaccines. Stories matter. Memory matters. And sometimes the most important public health voices are grandparents who simply remember and are willing to tell their stories so that others can learn from them.

Vaccines prevent disease, but stories help people understand why prevention matters.
Memory carried through stories may be one of the most powerful public health tools we have.

Read the article:
https://www.mariashriversundaypaper.com/they-remember-a-world-without-vaccines/

Subscribe to The Sunday Paper:
https://www.mariashriversundaypaper.com/subscribe/

Learn more about Grandparents for Vaccines:
https://www.grandparentsforvaccines.org/