Young people, who have a sense of being invincible, are operating with a brain that doesn't fully develop until they are 25 or older. They are bombarded constantly through the media with misinformation and sexually explicit images. They have the same hormones as everyone else, and all it takes is one experience with the wrong person.

Another reality is there are so many second marriages. Women are marrying men with past experience and men are marrying women with past experience, and with the LDS doctrine of repentance and acceptance, these marriages are not discouraged but welcomed.

Carole tells of a friend who died from cervical cancer because her new husband had an undisclosed relationship after his divorce. We do not always know people or some of the choices they have made in their lives. The vaccine could be a wise safety measure.

I think Bob Dylan is kind of weird, but this particular song rings true when he sings:

"Come mothers and fathers all over this land

And don't criticize what you can't understand

Your sons and your daughter are beyond your command

Your old role is rapidly aging

Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand."

In other words, as a parent, do not be an ostrich and bury your head about things swirling around your children's lives.

The last time I saw a beloved aunt of mine I hugged her tight and we shared some tears together. She then stood before me hairless but smiling, and much too confident she would beat the cervical cancer raging within her. I doubt it was caused by HPV, but I can tell you dying of cervical cancer is not a pretty business, and she did die.

Whether you take the medical advice or not, this is a topic and a choice to ponder seriously.

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E-mail: sasyoung2@aol.com