Very sad news Surfer indeed , the fella upstairs certainly deals an evil hand at times and when something like that happens it makes you take stock of what you have and makes you realise just how short life is .
Just being able to hear those tiny little birds again brings a big smile to my face 
The only reason I never tried cleaning my ear was because of the advice of the doctor saying they were clear , I feel like pinning him down and filling his ears with poxy resin 
no im not bitter and twisted about it YET