This month America is celebrating its 235th birthday on the 4th of July. Once known as “the melting pot”, America has given itself over to the current climate of political correctness, multi-culteralism, hyphenated “____-Americans” and mini-countries established throughout every state in the nation.

This has broken our bond of being simply “Americans”, living as

“one nation under God”.

America’s birthday is a good time to take a quick look at

some of the things that are meant to tie us together:

The Grand Old Flag, The Stars and Stripes: Our greatest emblem of freedom, and of the loyalty of those who solemnly salute it

and raise it up to fly high and proud, a symbol of allegiance to our republic.

The Pledge of Allegience: Take a moment and recite this to yourself, pondering the words and their meaning. The Scriptures tell us, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. It’s true. We must be on common ground.

Patriotic songs: America; America the Beautiful; God Bless America; My Country ‘Tis of Thee; You’re a Grand Old Flag; Yankee Doodle Dandy; This Land is Your Land; When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. We rarely hear these patriotic songs any more. Songs that stirred the heart and soul of young and old alike, proclaiming our love of God and Country.

“As American as baseball, hotdogs and apple pie”… when we think of these things, we automatically understand they mean “typically American”. It bonded a country full of foreigners together to share these iconic things on a common day, for a common reason: Celebration of America’s Independence. Not just to have a picnic, but because we love America. It’s legendary

that WWII soldiers would often answer, “For Mom and apple pie”

when asked by journalists, “Why are you going to war?”

American Patriotism. Portrayed in heartfelt films such as

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; 1776; Wake Island, and Yankee

Doodle Dandy. More recent offerings, although more explicit,

violent and crude, depict Americans – and the men who

led them – fighting, serving, dying for the sake of our

freedom. Patton; Gettysburg; Glory; and Saving Private

Ryan demonstrates American patriotism at its best.

Fireworks against a dark summer sky remind us

freedom does not come free, but is won by the service

and sacrifice of those loyal to the American Way of Life.

GOD BLESS AMERICA– LAND THAT WE LOVE

July 2011

Funny Bone

“A cheerful heart is good medicine…” Proverbs 17:22

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way

to Better Hearing…

My family has a history of hearing loss. My dad was deaf in one ear, and that gene has made its way through our family line. Fortunately, it has missed me all these years, although I am starting to notice simple signs. Uh oh.

My younger sister has had a lot of trouble for years, but keeps putting off getting hearing help – even though I keep giving her all the reasons why she shouldn’t.

So, until she does, I just laugh along with the rest of her family and continue to take advantage of the goofy way she hears things. I tell her she gives me good fodder to use as “funnies” for the newsletter.

For example, last night we went to dinner and were talking about birthdays. My brother-in-law and I are the same age, but a few weeks apart. So, in conversation I said, “…except I’m about six or seven weeks older.” Linda, looking shocked, squealed, “WHAT?”

Not knowing why she was so stunned, I said, “Well, yeah. My birthday’s the middle of June; Brian’s is the first of August. That makes me six or seven weeks older.”

Linda chuckled at herself. “Oh! I thought you said you were 67 years old!”

She says she’ll see Stuart.

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? If you asked that question of the general public, it would be safe to say you’d get almost one-for-one to raise their hand and say, “I do!” But if you followed it up with the question, “Why?” it would be equally safe to say you’d get a myriad of answers, ranging from the most humble, selfless reasons to all-out, shameless greed.

There was a great story about a multi-millionaire in California who donated his entire fortune ($30 million), to CHOC, (the Children’s Hospital of Orange County) upon his passing. It was reported in The Orange County Register that CHOC has just received their largest gift ever from the estate of Mr. Robert Tidwell, who passed away in 2009. Unmarried, with no children of his own, the 87-year-old businessman had given no indication of his wealth, or his intent to make a donation. Previous to his sizeable gift, he had given the hospital a used computer. A year before his death, Tidwell had made a tour of the hospital and visited with the children. He watched them play video games, bald from chemotherapy, while hooked to IV’s for treatments. The staff saw him moved to tears but had no idea of the depth of his desire to help the children. Apparently Tidwell had a brother who had died of a childhood disease and he had carried that loss for a lifetime. He wanted to be able to help other families avoid the pain of loss that he and his family had suffered so many years before.

Percy Ross died at 84 in November, 2001. But before he died, he, too, had given away

an estimated $30 million through his newspaper column, Thanks a Million,

which had run in over 800 newspapers. The column invited people worldwide to write in and

make a request for his help. He first got the idea for the column when he gave away more than 1000 bicycles

at a children’s holiday party in 1970. His gifts ranged from the extravagant – organ transplants and recreation centers – to the simple: $100 for a student’s science project, and silver dollars passed out with his down-to-earth wisdom. His goal was to “give it all away.” He had met that goal by the time he said good-bye to his readers in September, 1999. He credited his audience for giving him “so much over the years…I’m far richer today than when I started.”

Violet and Allen Large of Nova Scotia, won and gave big. Both in their late 70’s, last summer they won over $11 million in a Canadian lottery. Within four months they had given it all away. When they won the prize, Violet was undergoing cancer treatment and they found no need to update their 19th century home or their old cars. The couple agreed, “Giving the money away (to charities) made us feel good.” They had donated to many causes, including the local fire department, hospitals, churches, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and organizations that fight diabetes and diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. The generosity and impact of their donations cannot be ignored as thousands benefitted..

Daydreaming about becoming a millionaire can be fun, but – if the daydream became a reality – the question wouldn’t be “Who wants to be a millionaire?” but “Who do you want to be?”

“Buddy’s Bio”

Now, That’s the Ticket!

Let me just start by saying that my wife, Mariela, is an “All-Star Room Mother”: always there when the teacher is planning events, parties or recognition of the students; ready to take six or seven very loud fourth graders or kindergartners in her car, all over southern California for field trips or sporting events; coordinating all parents to participate in “Teacher Appreciation Week”, even when some of the parents don’t appreciate the teacher. Always there and always willing to help.

So, when the end of the school year came around last month, both the kids’ classrooms exploded with activity: fun parties for the kids, competition games of teachers against the kids, and handing out certificates for outstanding skills.

There was even one last History field trip for Luke and Mariela with his classmates to Sacramento and San Francisco – including a boat ride to Alcatraz and a trip to the Jelly Belly jellybean factory up in Fairfield. “The best stop ever!” according to Luke.

Mariela was loading the car at our house midday for one of these events. She was pulling out candy, food and games for the kids. Decorations for the End-of-Year school party were carried to the car, as well. Just about the time she was finished, Mariela looked outside to see a police car stopped in front of our house. Concerned, she went out to see why they were there.

Her heart stopped. She thought Buddy had been run over. But no; there

was Buddy sitting in the middle of the street right in the way of traffic. In this case, right in the police officer’s path.

Mariela hurried out into the street yelling at Buddy to get back inside the house. The police officer kindly wiggled his finger for her to come over to the patrol car. She did. He rolled down his window and handed her a ticket for not having the dog on a leash saying, “You can take this with you and the dog when you go back inside.”

Ugh! Buddy! Truthfully, sometimes even I’m surprised he’s still with us.

SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVIN’ IS EASY… UNLESS THE HEARIN’ IS DIFFICULT…

Summer is here!! It’s time for baseball games, backyard BBQ’s and concerts in the park. In other words, it’s time to enjoy all kinds of outdoor fun with family and friends. And summertime is also “time for better hearing”. One of the best ways to make sure you get to enjoy all that the outdoors-warm weather-fun can offer is by making sure your hearing aids are working at their maximum efficiency. After all, you don’t want to misunderstand the details when your niece tells you how she made the winning kick in her soccer game. You don’t want to mishear the

outcome of your favorite team’s end-

of-season game and get teased at the

family picnic because you thought your

team had won – but they had actually

lost by three points!

When it’s your turn in the carpool to pick up the kids from summer camp, you want to be sure to pick them up on time – at ten o’clock – and not cause panic with all the parents because you thought you were to be at the camp at one o’clock. Isn’t that what the camp counselor said…? With summertime heat and humidity increasing with every summer season, now is the perfect time to take advantage of our once-a-year

summertime offer of a complimentary “Clean-and-Check” of your current hearing aids to remove wax, perspiration, skin debris, or other obstructions, and then run them on

our analyzer to be sure they are “up to specs”. We’ll

make any adjustments we can to help, or send them

on to the factory for you, if necessary. Our goal is to

keep you “in the swing of things” and able to hear what’s

most important to you.

And while we’re fast at work on preserving your hearing aids, we’ll also throw in a complimentary demonstration of the latest advances in Digital Hearing Technology. You’ll be amazed at just how easy better hearing can be. Bring your “special someone” with you so they can see for themselves how much better you can hear – and maybe even hear for themselves how today’s digital technology might even help them.

And…if you’ve had your hearing checked but don’t currently wear hearing aids, this is a great time to take advantage of one of many manufacturers’ “Summer Discount Specials”. Frequently offered at mid-year, many manufacturers give Discount Specials for us to pass on to you. This is a perfect opportunity to take another look at the options available to help you get on your way to better hearing.

With Digital Hearing Technology at an all-time high and many prices at an all-time low, there’s no better time to improve the way you hear the sounds of your life. We’ll even give you some free batteries to help!

Summer. It’s a great time of year. It’s also a great time for better hearing. We can help you hear better – to live better. Call us today!

REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR OUR “HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW” HEART.

FIND IT AND GET A PRIZE!

(JUNE’S HEART WAS AT BASE OF ’FOR SALE’ SIGN)

CONGRATULATIONS to our dear patients,

Dolores and Mose Alvey who celebrated their

72nd Wedding Anniversary

on June 3, 2011. Married in 1939, this sweet couple has seen an incredible lifetime of events unfold. What a marvel it is to see committed devotion like this. God bless you both!

Anyone married 50 years or longer, either mail or bring this newsletter in to Sherill, or email her, by August 1st for YOUR CHANCE TO WIN a special ANNIVERSARY SURPRISE!

THIS MONTH IS H-O-T! FIREWORKS – SUN – VACATION

50% OFF

DRI-AID KIT – SUPER OR

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COUPON GOOD THRU JULY 31, 2011

SO…DO YOU SUDOKU ?YESSIR, I DO. SOCK IT TO ME!

Fill in the missing numbers in each 3x3 box using all digits, 1-9. When complete, each row, each column, and each 3x3 block will have used all 9 numbers.

“L.A.C.E.” Listening and

Communication Enhancement

For many of you, you now have one of the newest state-of-the-art hearing systems that feels comfortable and helps you to hear better in almost every situation. That took a lot of commitment and perseverance on your part to get far enough along in the rehab process to learn how your auditory system perceives sound. Are you ready to take it to the next level? If you are, Advanced Ear Care has an important “next step” to offer you: The “L.A.C.E.” Comprehensive Auditory Rehabilitation Program.

According to the Better Hearing Institute, the great news to our customers is that you can minimize the deterioration of your hearing skills and improve your ability to function in noisy situations. Using programs like L.A.C.E., research done with thousands of consumers has shown that, after completing this 20-session program, HOH persons with a typical hearing loss can experience a 4.7 dB improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in noisy situations. That translates into a whopping 40% improvement of speech understanding in noise! WOW!

Is there anyone reading this who would not like the benefit of being able to hear better in a noisy dining room, at the Bridge game table, or talking with family and friends when there is more than one conversation going on? Probably not.

If you, or someone you know, would like to hear better in noise, call us today to get the details of this fantastic program.

(949) 830-5330

“JET SET” CROWD DOWNSHIFTS TO BECOME “HANGAR QUEENS” - TIDBITS ABOUT AGING The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me! I want people to know WHY I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren’t paved.

Eventually you’ll reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. I love to hear them say, “You don’t look that old.”

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

Ah…being young is beautiful but being old is comfortable. When you’re dissatisfied and would like to be young again, think “Algebra”.

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ADVANCED EAR CARE 24310 Moulton Pkwy., Ste. D Laguna Woods, CA 92637

(949) 830-5330 E-mail: sherillf@advancedear.com Website: www.advancedearcare.com

LOONEY LAW: In Wyoming, it’s illegal to take a picture of a rabbit between January and April without an official permit.

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FUN FACT: 56 MILLION PEOPLE GO TO A MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL GAME EVERY YEAR !