The good news is that I get to keep my hearing. The bad news is that it's costing me $5K to get the hearing aids I need for the type of hearing loss I have. I just wished I had known about hearing loss and causes early in my life. I was raised on a farm with tractors and such, loud lawn mowers and lawn tractors, chainsaws, weedeaters, gas blowers, power tools, wind noise from riding motorcycle as well as wind noise from riding/driving in a car/truck with the windows down (mainly because we didn't have a vehicle that had A/C in it) and loud music. Not to mention the noises I experienced when I was in the military "back in the day".

I am thankful that I still have my hearing, my eye sight, my voice, and my limbs to walk and work with. I just had no idea about things like this....only to find out that getting old isn't for the faint of heart nor the thinly weighted wallet/bank account.

So....my words of wisdom to you that are still young (10 thru 55 years old)....wear hearing protection. Take good care of your hearing!!!!