DEAR ABBY: This is also in response to "R.H.G. in Elm Grove, Wis.," who wrote to say that her mother would not wear hearing aids because she thought they would make her look old.
She has things turned around. It's being hard of hearing that makes people think you're old. Don't fool yourself; they will figure out quickly that you are hard of hearing, or worse yet, they'll think you're senile because you respond incorrectly to questions.
Since I often didn't answer questions or enter conversations, many thought I was a snob. The truth was I hadn't heard them.
Thirty years ago when I got my first hearing aids, they changed my life. My whole world became a beautiful place full of sounds. I laughed and talked more -- and I became an active participant in what was going on around me.
So, to your readers I say: Hurry to your phone and call for an appointment with an otolaryngologist. (That's a doctor who specializes in ear, nose and throat problems.) You will never be sorry. -- AN 83-YEAR-OLD GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WHO IS GLAD TO BE HEARING HER GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, INDIO, CALIF.
DEAR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER: Now that people are living longer and enjoying their golden years more, your advice should be sweet music to many.