Letters to the Editor July 29, 2021

Albert Einstein stated, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” Having a thirst for knowledge keeps your mind sharp. Age is only a number. When you’re over the hill, you pick up speed.
Here are three things I’ve learned this week. If you haven’t got your three for the week, borrow one of these:
•When birds are migrating, they don’t eat, and they sleep while flying. Source: my grandson.
•When someone is impaled, don’t pull out the object. This week a fisherman had “bottom bouncer” weight (imagine a small spear) come out of the water and impale his heart. Good for him that his daughter, who was accompanying him, was an RN who knew better than to pull out the object.
Many of us have watched too much TV and seen impaled people pulling out the object while biting a bullet. His daughter protected the area, left the small spear in his heart alone, and let the surgeons at the hospital remove the object. Had she taken it out earlier, her father would have died. Source: Friend in my Bible study and my RN wife.
•If you’re talking with someone and your mind, heart or gut tells you they’re in a bad place mentally and possibly thinking about suicide, what do you do?  Answer: Be direct and ask them, “Are you thinking about suicide?” They might seem offended but let them know that you love them, and this is important.
Asking about suicide doesn’t plant any seeds in their mind about considering suicide in the future. Just the opposite, they can either say yes, they are considering suicide, at which time you can seek help (suicide hotline 800-273-8255) or no, they are not, and by talking about the problem it might help them work through the bad place they find themselves. Then finally you can say, would you do me a favor and tell me if you were ever considering suicide in the future? Source: safeTalk Resource Book from our friends at Farm Bureau and local mental health professionals.
 Cary Radisewitz
Luverne