My mom often looked confused about the addition of each new vaccine. She had 7 siblings and dozens of cousins (yes dozens, one family had 19 kids and her dad was one of 14). "We all had that and we were just fine. I loved it when I had the mumps it meant I got ice cream!" None of them were ever hospitalized. No one died. She did vaccinate me, however. Still, when the chicken pox vaccine came out, she thought it was ridiculous. So I think you are right that everyone's experience colors their feelings on this. Perhaps the author's mother was like my mom.
Before the chicken pox vaccine was recommended in our area, my daughter was exposed to CP 3 times and didn't catch it. When I say exposed, I mean directly, sharing sippy cups and sleepovers and so on. Not on purpose by the way, it's just how it turned out. Nothing. No chicken pox. A few years later, she suddenly got a horrible fever and headache that lasted 2 days. A week after that - chicken pox. And a really mild case for a 9 year old. The exact amount of pox needed for immunity (I think it was 30?) Then my 2 younger ones got it and they both had really severe cases. I'm not sure why my oldest didn't catch it after 3 exposures and when she did catch it (I have no idea how she was finally exposed) it was mild.
I think it also matters where you live. I lived in a remote area in the north were people are usually living in closer quarters...it's rare to see a house more than 1500 sq ft. And so, there were all kinds of illnesses from over crowding and from lack of sanitation in some areas (some of the First Nations reserves near by still had boil water orders, and some didn't have running water at all). We were constantly sick. Norovirus came 2-3 times a year. The flu once or twice a year. One daughter got scarlet fever. We dealt with a lot of strep, croup, bronchitis, laryngitis. And in between those, we had colds and runny noses. Oh, and constant letters from the school about lice in the class (thankfully we never caught it). From September to May, every year, we were sick.
We moved further south to a 'wealthy' suburb and while we still get sick, it's much less. We can actually go several months in a row in the winter with not one person in the family of 5 getting sick. That was impossible where we lived before. Here, the teachers are constantly cleaning the desks and getting the kids to wash their hands...something that wasn't common in my children's previous schools. It makes a big difference.
So, it's likely a combination of genetics, exposure and simply where you live. Lifestyle matters too. People who socialize more are going to get sick. People who work with people are going to get sick. My mom is always getting sick from her work because she works with hundreds of people every day. My dad never gets sick because he works with 5 people. My dad has also never had norovirus. Ever. Why? Who knows. Last year I was living with my parents temporarily and my 12 year old barfed all over the floor in my room the night before I had an exam. I made my dad clean it up, because I always get sick within hours when I clean it up. It worked, because I never got sick (and neither did he). Some people just are genetically predisposed to be immune to certain things.
The only problem I have with the article is how she lists illnesses that aren't covered by vaccination that she contracted as being her mother's fault. Back then there was no vaccination for meningitis, chicken pox or HPV in the schedule. I also had yearly tonsillitis (I was fully vaccinated) and it turned out to be allergies as I got older, and strep was also frequent. Some of those things are common in children, vaccinated or not, healthy food or not. And it can be individual - my brother never had tonsillitis like I did, and never developed hay fever or asthma like I did, but instead has a deadly allergy to fish. It's funny, because he was breastfed and I was not. My mother always gets upset, like, "I breastfed, isn't that supposed to prevent that??". You cannot predict everything, even if you do everything 'right'.
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