Wunderlich

I am still in shock at the death of my daughter, the 45-year-old mother of twins. The shock of her death in a car crash will be with me forever. Fortunately, I am blessed to have twin grandchildren and my new mission in life is caring for them. My husband and I share this mission.

I know my grandchildren and they know me. They know I love them, will care for them, and keep my promises. Though they are living with their father my mind is filled with parenting thoughts about them. Do you have enough lunch money. Have your bus fees been paid? What clothes do you need?

Somehow, while I am dealing with questions, legal procedures and financial ones, I must find hope. It is not easy. Every day I look for hope, for as a health writer, I know its spark can keep me going. Where is my hope?

MY DAUGHTER WAS AN ORGAN DONOR. After consulting with our grandchildren, my husband and I signed an agreement with Life Source to donate our daughter's organs. The Life Source representative called the next day. "Your daughter saved three lives," she said, "and because of her another will see." Knowing my daughter helped others gives me hope.

FRIENDS HAVE SHOWERED US WITH KINDNESS. Because my husband and I are active in the community we have received cards from friends, people we barely know, and strangers. Some of the comments on the cards make us cry, but we are still comforted by them. The kindness of others gives me hope.

MEMORIALS IN MY DAUGHTER'S NAME GIVE ME HOPE. At the end of our daughter's obituary we suggested memorials to Mayo Clinic. The memorials we received added up to a substantial donation to Mayo Clinic. Helping Mayo Clinic to carry out its mission of medical practice, education and research gives me hope.

MY DAUGHTER IMPRINTED HER VALUES ON HER CHILDREN. The twins started thinking about their mother's values the moment she died. "Even when Mom disciplined us she was never angry," my grandson said. "Mommy always tried to make people smile," my granddaughter said. The twins know their mother wanted them to go to college and we will make this dream come true -- a mission that gives us hope.

THE SIGNS OF SPRING LIFT MY SPIRITS. The piles of snow around our house are melting and I am starting to see green grass. Next to the house, the birch trees show signs of budding. I saw my first robin yesterday. She (or he) sat on a tree near the house and sang for several minutes. Spring gives me hope and I am looking forward to it.

These hopeful signs are helping to heal my grief. I am also trying to make something good from grief and writing articles is a way to do this. Grief is a common bond that joins people together and makes us human.

Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson

http://www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 28 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief," written with Lois Krahn, MD is available from http://www.amazon.com A five-star review of the book is posted on Amazon. You will find other reviews on the American Hospice Foundation and Health Ministries Association Web sites.

Wilson , Callaway, Titleist, Adams , King Cobra, Yonex, Ping , Taylor Made, Mizuno, and Spaulding are all excellent name brand golf clubs. As a beginning or even a professional golfer, trying to decide which set of golf clubs to purchase, however, may often feel like taking a shot in the dark. In a society that is increasing name brand conscious, many of us are tempted to simply buy what everyone else seems to be buying. Selecting the proper golf clubs, however, is something that you shouldn't do without having a good idea of what types are available and what the specific use of each club is. Using the proper golf club can and will greatly improve your game. Other important things to consider are choosing the right lie and the right shaft flex. The flexibility of the shaft of the club is known as the bend or flex. If you're a powerful swinger, you'll have more control with less bend. Beginners and less powerful swingers are better off with more flexibility.

If you're new to the game of golf, the first thing you need is a basic set of golf clubs. A basic set will include irons, putters, wedges and drivers, and even though most nongolfers don't believe it, each type of club is designed to improve the speed of your swing and will help you correct faults in your game. Using the right type of golf club is essential and will make the learning process quicker and easier. The first thing to consider when choosing a set of golf clubs is your basic ability level. There are basically three ability levels including: low handicaps, mid handicaps and high handicaps.

If you're a low-handicap golfer, you generally score less than ten strokes over par. Low-handicap golfers should carry at least one fairway wood and a driver as well as lower irons, and at least 3 wedges, a pitching wedge, sand wedge and either a lob wedge or approach wedge. A mid-handicap golfer in the 11-20 handicap range should add a 7-wood or even a 9-wood to their bag. The fairway woods will provide much better control and consistency than the long irons. Mid-handicap golfers should stick to the 3 and 9-irons and the same wedges recommended above. High-handicap golfers are either new to the game or just haven't mastered the basics and usually shoots over 100. It's highly suggested that high-handicap golfers use the 3-wood for the tee off and add in the 7 and 9-woods. The same wedges would apply that are suggested for the low and mid-handicap golfers.

Today, common concensus is that the most important club you can have in your golf bag is a hybrid. Many golfers have used this club to replace the three-iron. Tour players are even switching to this club. Hybrids to check out include the Taylormade Rescue Mid (which continues to dominate the market and is found in more bags on the tour than any other hybrid), the Nike CPR, and the Ben Hogan CFT. The hybrid is a club that favors the golfer who is generating good clubhead speed, but needs to add to long-iron trajectory. The lower center of gravity in this club produces higher shots while a short shaft will improve control and accuracy.

Drivers and woods are probably the most important clubs in the bag and everybody loves them. Mainly used for longer shots, drivers are usually the first club out of the bag on the tee. Some advanced golfers, however, may decide to use a driver off the fairway is they need a little extra distance. A fairway or metal wood is also used off the tee if you need a more accurate shot or you don't need as much distance as you would get with a driver. This club is a utility club that can also be used in fairway bunkers and tight lies in the rough. The most popular drivers on the market today are the Taylormade r7quad, the Taylormade r5 dual and the Ping G2.

Fairway woods are usually considered the most reliable golf club and seem to be a favorite because they tend to make you look better than you really are. This is a club that is evolving slowly but should definitely have a place in your bag. A fairway wood usually improves a golfer's accuracy and allows him to loft the ball higher. A few favorites include the Cobra SZ and the Calloway Big Bertha.

The iron is a club that is definitely riding on the edge of technology and suprisingly enough is getting less expensive. While this club isn't perfect yet, it's getting there, and most players should be using game improvement irons. These irons stress perimeter weighting, forgiveness and higher trajectory. The three irons that are getting the most attention today are the Ping G2, the Calloway Big Bertha and the Calloway Big Bertha Fusion. Often the most overlooked club in the bag is the wedge. This club, however, is a necessity in every golfer's bag and definitely a trusted friend to every player who's ever been on the tour. The Cleveland CG10, the Titleist Vokey, and the Cleveland 588 are three of the best. The popularity of the wedge is evident in that Cleveland and Titleist have over 112 combined wedge options.

Finally, the putter is a club that has certainly gone high tech and some of the newer Super Mallets look like they belong in Science Fiction movies. Thankfully, though the traditional putters are still performing well and remain favorites. The Super Mallet putters getting the most attention are the Odyssey 2-ball (White Steel), the Ping G2i Craz-E and the TaylorMade Rossa Monza/Mezza Monza. The old standbys of the traditional putters include the Ping G2i, the PING JAS, and the Yes! Golf C-Groove.

Once you have a general understanding of when and why you need to use a certain type of club, there are still many decisions to make before actually making a purchase. Many driving ranges have golf clubs for rent and it may be a good idea to try out a few different clubs before actually making your purchase. Golf clubs, especially the name brands like Titleist, Cleveland and Nike can be very expensive. If you're new to the sport, consider starting out with second hand clubs. If you find a set that fits, you can usually get them for a steal.

Over half the men in the United States will develop some form of prostate problem making a prostate prevention a major topic for men of all ages. Because prostate cancer and disease are becoming increasingly more common, taking care of yourself now can help you avoid problems later.

Prostate cancer, while very curable if detected early enough, is incurable once it has metastasized outside the gland itself. What this means is that as long as the cancer is confined to the prostate it can be treated and in most cases cured. Once these cancerous cells break away from the malignant tumor and enter the blood stream or lymphatic system they will grow and multiply in other parts of the body. Prostate cancer cells normally metastasize to the skeletal system, which is extremely difficult to treat. This is why it is important that all men get regular checkups by their doctors once they hit 40 years of age.

Aside from regular doctors visits prostate prevention comes down to living a healthy lifestyle. This means cutting out bad health habits and starting to adhere to healthier lifestyle principles. In fact men who want to avoid prostate problems should actually forget about the prostate and look to improve their overall health, particularly their heart.

In healthy bodies, inflammation occurs acutely in response to threats such as infection. Prostatitis, and infection of the prostate, is one such inflammatory response. Inflammation is linked to oxidation, because unhealthy levels of inflammation feed the oxidation chain reaction and help push it to unhealthy levels, too. If we don't get sufficient antioxidants in our diet, or if we eat poorly, or expose ourselves to too much stress or certain oxidation-promoting pollutants, we get unhealthy levels of oxidation in our bodies.

Medical advances and further understanding of the human body has led to an increased awareness of how the prostate becomes damaged and more importantly, new ways of prostate prevention. One of the major breakthroughs in this area has been the development of the Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test that detects possible prostate cancer before it has a chance to grow.

Other research that focused on men who eat high quantities of vegetables verses men that don't have led researchers to believe that a high-vegetable diet is essential to prostate prevention. While the research is not concrete, it is reasonably safe to assume that maintaining a healthy diet, exercise, limiting junk food, alcohol and the consumption of red meat can help prostate prevention. Prostate cancer prevention strategies require changing patterns of the way men live to work toward prostate cancer prevention.

According to studies, if men in the age range of 30 to 40 would check for the early signs of prostate cancer, they would have a 90% chance of surviving cancer, if and when they would be found to be suffering from it, without any complications.

To learn more about Prostate Prevention please visit the website Prostate Health Answers by clicking here.