When I was growning up, everyone including all the movie stars, smoked. It made them look glamorous!
My parents both smoked all the time. Heck, they even collected coupons off of the cigarette packages to get some great free gifts.
My mother told me I could smoke when I wanted to, as long as I did not sneak around to do it. At age 12, I started smoking in front of her. I had a job, so I could buy my own cigarettes. I soon became addicted and smoked 1-2 packs a day. Back then, you could buy a carton of cigarettes for $2 (10 packs)
I wish I could tell you that I quit at a young age. But I did NOT! Husband #1 smoked and so did Husband #2. (current hubby)
Finally, sometime in my mid 40's, I decided that I was wasting an awful lot of money and I quit cold turkey. I talked dh into joining me a few months later.
My mother died of lung cancer from smoking, so did husband #1. My best friend's husband got such bad breathing problems from smoking that he couldn't even take a shower or fix something to eat. The last few years of his life he was forced to sit in a chair and stare at the tv, cause he couldn't do anything else.
I had a friend that died this Monday. She and her husband were heavy smokers all their lives. She developed breathing problems about 5 years ago and quit smoking. She begged her husband to quit but he did not. She begged her children. They still smoke.
Her husband developed lung cancer and died within a month; that was 2 years ago. My friend still struggled to breath and was on oxygen all the time.
This Monday, she could not breathe and by the time they got her to the hospital, her heart had stopped.
She was 54.
If you smoke, please stop. If you don't, don't ever start. It is not nearly as cool as all those old movie stars made it out to be! Believe me.
I hate cigarettes!!
September 16th, 2010 at 01:53 pm
September 16th, 2010 at 02:38 pm 1284647880
September 16th, 2010 at 03:11 pm 1284649915
September 16th, 2010 at 03:55 pm 1284652535
September 16th, 2010 at 04:13 pm 1284653625
I smoked for about 6 years on and off (started at age 28--how dumb is that??). It's very enjoyable but WAY too addictive, and the toll on your body is just not worth it. I haven't puffed a cigarette in about 3.5 years, and I don't cough up phlegm every morning like I did when I smoked!
September 16th, 2010 at 05:23 pm 1284657800
September 16th, 2010 at 11:09 pm 1284678591
I'm sorry for your loss.
I lost my mother in 2002. She was a heavy smoker of unfiltered cigarettes. She smoked for years. She was only 54 when she passed away.
I hope what you've written will touch someone and maybe be a catalyst to stop.
Blessings
September 16th, 2010 at 11:26 pm 1284679589
And why there are fewer old movie stars than there should be.
I'm sorry for your loss. My mother was also a smoker, and while she was not a heavy smoker, the habit got her too. Breast cancer at 63.
September 17th, 2010 at 06:34 am 1284705243
My best friend smokes, and her parents do too. Her mother has 1st stage lung cancer, and my friend is so angry at her mother because she refuses to quit. And yet she won't quit herself!
September 17th, 2010 at 01:04 pm 1284728690
September 17th, 2010 at 02:11 pm 1284732697
I'm 34, and have never been tempted to touch a cigarette or drink alcohol. My vice though is probably just as lethal - overindulging in food.
My brother smoked for awhile. I'm not sure if he does anymore or not. I hope he doesn't.
September 17th, 2010 at 05:28 pm 1284744490
September 17th, 2010 at 09:48 pm 1284760103
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:07 pm 1285196838