It's true. The wisdom and advice just overflow from those standing on the sidelines. Amateur coaches, doctors, armchair psychiatrists, and managers have all the answers until the problem becomes their own.

Ronald Reagan's death certainly heightened our awareness of the pain families deal with while they say the "long goodbye" to a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter wrote, "A former Democrat himself, Reagan no doubt laughed at the old neocon line that "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. Today the inverse is true: a liberal on health issues is a conservative who has been mugged by an illness in the family."

Referring to stem-cell research, which widow Nancy Reagan will go on to champion, some say Ron wasn't for it while in office. Politicians should vote for the good of the people and listen to their constituents, but we all know that personal experiences tend to be the best persuasion.

In our own community, several devastated parents are working through the grief of losing a child. The tragedy of an accident and the sadness of a terminal illness leave us as numb as the shock of a suicide or trying to comprehend how a 15-year-old local boy could senselessly kill an innocent mother and daughter.

What are the advocacy issues for which we might volunteer?

Tougher seat belt, underage drinking, and driving under the influence laws. Insurance mandates to include mental health and infertility issues, as well as research and development funding for various terminal illnesses. Review of truancy and school district funding, not to mention teacher competency evaluations and public choice or private school educational vouchers. Tort reform, medical malpractice, copyright laws, and state-required taxes imposed on small employers. Same sex marriages, the marriage tax penalty, and inheritance taxes. Discrimination-of any kind. Gun control laws.

All of these and more are issues that require a passionate commitment to raise awareness and impose change. It just depends on what and when "it" happens to you. "It" changes a person. "It" makes one more sensitive, more generous, more passionate, more angry, and more focused. All battles need heroes. When it happens to you, be a hero. TPW