A young boy on the beach was throwing the washed- up starfish back into the ocean. A stranger passing by told him not to bother, because it would not make any difference, there were thousands of beaches and millions of starfish, and it would not be possible to save all of them. The boy reached down, picked up a starfish, threw it back into the ocean and said, smiling softly: " I made a difference for that one!"

Counting Our Blessings

By Barbara Loe Fisher

It has been a year of ups and downs, good news and bad news but through it all there is the abiding hope that tomorrow will bring a better day. Hope is what keeps us going in our darkest hours when all else seems lost. It is a bridge between what is and what we dream can be. Hope is what many parents of vaccine injured children have held onto during the darkest hours of watching their children struggle with poor health after vaccination.

One New Jersey Mom, Barbara Majeski, held onto hope that her vaccine injured son, Max, would someday get better. Healthy at birth in 2006, Max was given a hepatitis B vaccine in the newborn nursery and immediately became very sick.

Barbara's first six minute video "Max's Story: A Vaccine Story" is a hit on You Tube and her second video "Children of Vaccination Choice" was produced for the October 16, 2008 rally in Trenton, New Jersey sponsored by the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice.

It has been my privilege to work this past year with the extraordinary Moms and Dads in New Jersey and New York who are standing up and being counted for the right to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions - Barbara Majeski, Sue Collins, Louise Habakus, Rita Palma, Bob Krakow, John Gilmore and so many more. They give me hope for the future. They - and all those who are taking action in their communities to educate and prevent vaccine harm - are among the blessings I count this Thanksgiving.

The staff and volunteers of the National Vaccine Information Center wish you and those you love a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Originally posted in NVIC Vaccine E-Newsletter on November 26, 2008
Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights www.nvic.org

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