Our speaker today was Monique Hammond. Monique has brought her message about hearing loss to over 200 Rotary Clubs! She does this not to raise money or promote any kind of business, but she provided an important public service message brought about by her own experience of sudden, severe hearing loss. She does not know why this happened to her, but her life changed dramatically one day in a matter of 4 hours. The suddenness of her case tends to suggest it was the result of some kind of virus but the more common causes of hearing loss are the aging process and exposure to excessive noise. She notes that hearing loss is usually permanent, usually cumulative, and frequently preventable. It takes a significant toll on one's ability to enjoy the things in life that we come to count on and therefore urges everyone to be very cautious about exposure to unnecessarily loud noise. Loud restaurants, music venues, and sporting events are some of the things to be leery of. Another thing she suggests is what she calls a 60/60 rule: Go no louder than 60% on volume dials and no more than 60 minutes exposure to unnecessary noise. Monique also noted that those with hearing impairment have had an especially hard time during the pandemic, given the necessity of wearing masks. We greatly appreciated Monique taking the time to speak to our group and also for the fact that she was joined by her husband Russ Hammond who provides technical support for her presentations when necessary.