Have you gotten a flu vaccine this year? A new survey from the American Lung Association found a disconnect that will probably seem familiar. Checking in with mothers across the country (moms still being the ones who tend to make the doctor appointments), the association found that 78 percent think flu is scary and potentially life-threatening...but only 46 percent say they're going to encourage their spouses and kids to get the vaccine this year, and only 38 percent plan to get it themselves.

You hear a lot about mind/body connections, but mind/body disconnections are at least as important-when your mind says "go" but your bottom stays planted in the chair. I certainly understand this one. Like most adults, I grew up thinking the flu was trivial. I'm not sure why, considering that the flu pandemic of 1918 is now thought to have killed 30 to 50 million people worldwide. (For more information about that time, check out http://1918.pandemicflu.gov/the_pandemic/) But no one talked about that when I was young, or even a young adult; it's almost like those memories were boxed away, too horrific to look at.

My great-grandparents died in that epidemic, leaving my grandmother to herd her younger siblings across European borders (hidden in a hay wagon, according to one version of the story), and eventually to the United States. So when, some years back, researchers began revisiting those years, and I started reporting on their findings, I felt pushed to let go of my denial. And a few years ago, I got a more personal reminder of how important the vaccine might be. I'd gotten everyone in the family vaccinated except my younger daughter, Lily, who was just two-too young at that point to get the shot. (Now, kids can get the vaccine starting at 6 months-for more on the who, what, and why of the vaccine, go to www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm.) A while later, sure enough, Lily got sick. Very sick, though I never got her tested to see if it was actually influenza. I just gave her ibuprofen for her fever and lay in bed with her, worrying and trying to comfort her as she cried miserably and sneezed in my face. I never got sick, for which I thank the vaccine. She got better, for which I thank our good fortune. And every year since then, I've made sure everyone got the vaccine.