The interesting thing is that both my parents smoked at some point in their lives.
My mom, long before I was born, was a regular smoker. One day she was sitting with a friend in the kitchen smoking a cigarette and out of the blue announced that "This is the last cigarette I will ever smoke." She crushed it out, and that was that. Go figure.
My dad began smoking as a teenager. When I was growing up, he was a regular pack-a-day smoker. Inside the house, in bed, in the car, it didn't matter. We (my mom, sister, and I) hated it. Interestingly enough, when we took long roadtrips (which we did quite often) Dad would only smoke his pipe, and we all LOVED it. We would get home after a few weeks and marvel at how CLEAN the house smelled. That would last a few days and we'd be back to normal.
When Dad was 39, his heart simply decided to stop beating one day. That's it, I'm done, I'm stopping. It had zilch to do with his smoking, but it did land him in an ICU for the better part of a month. While there, he was roomed with a man who was dying of emphysema. You can imagine what THAT sounded like...
The man died.
When my father was being released from the hospital, he asked the doctor if he could continue to smoke. The doctor said, "Well, what happened to you had nothing to do with your smoking, but remember that guy next to you? If you want to die like that, then keep smoking." On top of that, my father reasoned, "You know, I've been smoke-free for a month now. Why restart?"
He never did.
I've tried a pipe a few times, and enjoyed a few good cigars. I like cigars, but my wife not absolutely forbids me from smoking any others ever again. I have no earthly idea what a cigarette tastes like because I've never so much as taken a puff.
I try to teach my daughters that smoking is a nasty and disgusting habit, despite the fact that their mother and grandmother are both chimneys. Fortunately, the little ones seem to agree with me. They hate it.
I wish the cigarette and dip industries would go out of business due to lack of interest in the market, but I'll be damned before I call for a ban. Wouldn't work anyway.
You have my prayers, brother. I know it can be tough, but at least you're trying. Hang in there!
