Years ago, when I was teaching at Boston University, I had the opportunity to visit Edinburgh for 3 weeks. Our students were performing in the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The long stay gave me the opportunity to thoroughly explore that extraordinarily beautiful city. I always like to bring a little something home with me, usually an antique; something small, easy to pack and that will evoke memories of my stay.
This Art Deco cigarette box is what came home with me. It’s simply gorgeous. I love the combination of metals, especially the copper with its beautiful blue patina. How elegant the flapper is, languidly sitting on that step while smoking a cigarette. The inside of the box is wood, buffed to a rich sheen. It’s in remarkably good condition and sits on our spinet desk in the den.
Ah, the days of cigarette boxes and smoking, when smoking a cigarette was cool and elegant. No one had any idea how harmful it could be. They were blessed with a sort of blissful ignorance.
We watched Jaws last night on TCM. One of the characters lit up a cigarette in the hospital. In another scene there was a plastic ashtray on the bedside table. Old movies, older than Jaws, are filled with smoking. Characters light up at the drop of a hat. Cigarettes are used, as they are used in real life, as a prop, a smoky wall of defense, as something to do with one’s hands.
My dad smoked for years and he smoked in the house. That astounds me now.
My grandfather smoked for most of his life. He rolled his own cigarettes and smoked a pipe. And he died from complications from Emphysema.
I smoked for about 3 or 4 years, from my late twenties into my early thirties. It seems ridiculous now that I took it up after years of not smoking. But I did. I loved lighting up my first cigarette in the morning, right after I’d finished my first cup of coffee. It gave me something to do. I loved the social aspect of it, especially during my first two years of graduate school, when my fellow acting students routinely took cigarette breaks during rehearsals – inside the building. A pack of cigarettes cost $1.25 then.
At the end of my second year of grad school, I decided to stop. I was about to pursue a career in acting. I had started teaching voice and speech. It seemed hypocritical to be instructing students about the care of their voices, while I puffed away on a known carcinogen. I waited until I went home for a visit at the end of the year. I knew I would be relaxing at my parents’ house, free from the stress of the academic year. They didn’t know I smoked (or so I thought.) It would be the perfect time to stop. And I did.
Don also smoked for years, longer than I did. Fortunately, he stopped around the same time I did, so by the time we met, we had been non-smokers for several years and it never figured into our life.
I remember being absolutely sure my parents had no idea I was smoking. Even when I was still in Michigan and living on my own, I would enter my parents’ home knowing they would never catch on. Now I think, who was I kidding? I can tell someone’s a smoker immediately. That smell clings to you. It never goes away. I hate the way it clings to clothing, to drapes, to fabric.
And I’m shocked at how many young actors smoke. We are armed with so much knowledge about the dangers of smoking, yet still they smoke. Young people think they are immortal. It’s part of being young. I’ve never been an ex-smoker who lectures others on the dangers of smoking. One conversation with a student or two or three? Yes, absolutely. But in the end, I can’t make them do anything they don’t want to do.
I stopped in 1985. It’s been 28 years since I lit up a cigarette.
Question for the day: Are you a smoker? Did you ever smoke? No judgment here, just simple curiosity.
Happy Tuesday.
My sister sneaked one of dad’s out to the orchard and lit it up and coughed and coughed. She tried to hand it to me and I well remember my words of “no way man” as I contemplated the punishment to come if caught. Lost our dad to lung cancer. He was 44. I was 13. He smoked three packs a day.
When I met my future husband, he was a smoker. Oh, he tried to keep it from me but I caught on pretty quick. He always told me it was “situational” and he only smoked at work, at month-end when he felt the most pressure from his job. Perhaps this was so, as he seemed to quit quite easily. A few years later we attended a 50’s dance at a service club w/ friends and he had a pack of unfiltered Camels rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve. Next thing I know he has one lit up and with way too much gusto was dragging away on it and proclaimed it still tasted good.
Thankfully he has not lit up since but to this day still tells me that smoking tasted good to him. I can’t even imagine.
How terrible to lose your dad to lung cancer at such a young age, Chris. I’m so sorry.
Never was a smoker and I’m actually allergic to it. My father was and I hated it!
I don’t blame you!
I tried smoking once in high school and I’ll never forget how my body reacted to those first puffs. I got so sick, my throat burned and my eyes watered badly. My friends kept telling me to push past it, it would get better but I refused to try again.
I remember both my parents smoking. They quit when I was in junior high, Mom almost instantly. Dad had a harder time of it. We would give our dad different types of pipes for holidays and birthdays. I think he still has the collection stashed away somewhere. I’ll be home fro Christmas. I’ll have to look for them. :)
Have a good day.
Our first reaction to a puff on a cigarette is about as clear as message as the body can send!
I’ve never been a smoker but my mother smoked when we were growing up. I remember a friend of my mom’s, Dorothy, was so elegant with snow white hair and a lovely complexion. She always wore ‘frosted’ pink lipstick and had a beautiful amethyst ring with a huge stone set in white gold. I used to sit at the table while they visited over coffee (and cigarettes) and dream of the day when I could smoke and wear frosted lipstick and have coffee with my girlfriends. It wasn’t long after that my mother decided to smoke ONLY when she was outdoors and to never again smoke in the car.
We now talk about how badly our clothes must have smelled, though we never noticed then and, probably, most of the other kids’ smelled the same.
Of the four children in our family, none of us are smokers, thank goodness :)
(I”m sure we have other vices but at least our lungs are healthy)
Have a great day!
Lori
Oh yes, smoking used to seem so elegant and sophisticated, Lori!
Because the tobacco – and advertising – industries WANTED all of us to think that. I guess “Deep Throat” was right. When you want to know something – or you want to know WHY… Follow the Money, :>)
Both my parents smoked and my ex smoked. I never did. I hated it always. I swore I wouldn’t marry a smoker but I did. I’ve come to realize I’m allergic to the smoke and so is my youngest daughter. No smokers allowed around me now. Both my parents stopped smoking after I left home and for that I’m grateful. I’m seldom around a smoker anymore.
Me either. I do have a good friend who is a stage manager and she smokes like a chimney. I can’t be in her apartment because the smoke is so strong that I have to wash all my clothes when I leave there.
I’m allergic to cigarette smoke. I didn’t find this out until I was an adult. My Daddy started smoking when he was nine years old, and after losing my Mama to heart disease and other illnesses associated with second-hand smoke, he finally quit. He said that he will always feel guilty for the damage he has done to all of us. He has inoperable Stage 4 lung cancer and also a bad heart, and unable to take chemo or radiation. He was given only 6 months -1 year to live more than 5 years ago. He is our living, walking miracle.
I’m so glad he’s hanging in there, Carolyn.
Thank you, dear!
Interesting topic, Claudia. I bet you’ll get a big response! My husband and I read some old books written by a now fairly obscure author (D.E. Stevenson). She wrote from the 1930’s to the 1970’s and in her earlier books smoking was as common as eating. Dave and I always laugh when a cigarette is mentioned; we know it was considered “cool” in those days. Ugh. You would not look like you do today if you had smoked all these years. I believe smoking tends to age people and give their features a harsh aspect. But the cigarette box is beautiful!
Smoking does age you. You can tell when someone is a smoker.
I started smoking when I was 18 and smoked my first year in college. I had stopped by the time I was nineteen. That was 46 years ago and you know what? I still miss it. I just loved smoking but realized it was so bad for my health. That being said, I would still be doing it today if it wasn’t bad for me and it didn’t stink.
I sometimes miss it when someone lights up nearby and I get that first whiff! Both Don and I have said that we would be tempted to start again if we knew it was safe! But it isn’t.
Oh does this bring back memories…..
I had my first cigarette when I was in high school. Took a big long drag off that baby and promptly proceeded to cough up both lungs. My eyes burned so badly and my head pounded from the coughing. To this day I will never understand what was to “cool” about smoking. NEVER tried it again !!!!!
Vanessa
When you analyze it, the act of bringing tobacco wrapped in paper up to your lips and breathing it in seems ridiculous!
I’m a smoker. I smoke about a pack a day. I smoke in my house and in my car. I actually like smoking. I also like that nowadays you have to go outside to smoke. It is a ready made excuse to get out of situations that I am not enjoying. I get that people don’t want to breathe my smoke but I do kinda get offended when they talk about the way I smell. But, basic manners are often ignored these days. :) Am I aware that smoking is not healthy? Well, yes I am. I have seen a billboard or TV commercial or maybe 6 million of them. :) I take full responsibility for choosing to smoke and the consequences that follow. So I’ll bet I’m the only smoker who chimes in here. We are all going into the closet or should I say outside the back door with Febreeze and chewing gum.
I bet there will be others, Missy. Hey, I loved smoking when I did it. Now… not so much. I admire your honesty, my friend.
Missy – I agree with you. It is your choice to smoke, and as long as you leave the room or the area and are not subjecting others to your habit, NO ONE has any right to lecture you. Total strangers of course are just being rude, but I’m willing to bet others who say something to you probably just have your best interests at heart. As a pre-teen I was obnoxious as I expounded on the evils of smoking to my parents. Actually got my Mom to quit. I think also that most of us probably have some type of habit – nail-biting etc – that we’d prefer others not know about, but since smoking CAN affect people who don’t do it, it’s kind of in a category all its own.
When I was in nursing school in the 80’s not only were patients allowed to smoke in their rooms but nurses would smoke at the nurses station while they did their charting. Can you believe that? There were ashtrays everywhere . I can remember sitting at the nurses station charting and I kept hearing this “boiling water” sound . I finally realized it was coming from a patient that was smoking and that sound was coming from her lungs! It was at that moment that I decided to quit. I was 22 yrs old. Unbelievable.
It seems absurd, doesn’t it, Janice? Smoking in hospital rooms!
I smoked for about 3 or 4 months when I was 18 because someone told me it was a good way to lose weight. I just never liked it that much. Both my parents and many other relatives smoked and we were around it a lot growing up. My step dad smoked for 45 years then stopped for 3 or 4 and went back to it. When he was 74 and still smoking he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was the strongest man I’ve ever known although not a large man and the one person I thought would fight cancer to the end. He passed away one month after his diagnosis. I often wonder if he’d have lived longer if he hadn’t started smoking again.
I’m sorry about your step dad, Janie.
My dad smoked for decades, but then he had a heart attack and they took away his cigarettes. Thankfully, that stopped his habit.
When I was about 7 we went over to my dad’s boss’s house. My brother and I joined their kids in a room while the parents drank brandy and smoked. One of their kids pulled out some cigarettes and we all took a puff. I immediately went into hysterics laughing. It just seemed so absurd. I was laughing so much the parents came into the room and we were busted. I was still laughing with tears pouring down my face. My parents gathered us up and took us home. That was the only puff I ever took. Both my parent smoked constantly. I went to private girls’ school and I would exit my dad’s car to go to classes with my uniform reeking of smoke and was ridiculed for it constantly. My mom would send Christmas presents to me in NY and when you opened the box, it smelled of smoke. When I cleared out my mother’s house 8 months after her death, the house still was permeated with her smoke. No amount of Febreeze or cleaning removed it. I washed every bit of clothing and every surface and the odor remained. Except for me, no one in the family, including the grandchildren and great grandchild, would visit her for the last 10 years of her life. She became a virtual recluse because of it, and she wanted a large portion of her estate to go to anti-smoking education. My father smoked cigarettes, cigars and a pipe all his life. He died of a major heart attack at 50. My mother smoked 3 packs a day until her death last year at 89. And although she lived a long time, her lungs were so compromised that she would gasp when she walked. And I do find the smell extremely offensive. I see my young co-workers lighting up outside the office and I chastise them, but only because I care for them and don’t want them to suffer as I saw my parents do. My dad’s life was shortened because of it and my mom lost almost all of her family as a result. Was it worth it?
Not at all. Not worth it. It’s a terrible thing and I’m glad my time as a smoker was brief. My grandfather’s death from Emphysema was long and painful and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Hello Claudia, No I did not smoke. Both my parents smoked while I was growing up. They both decided to stop smoking in 1969. Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s smoking seem to be quite the social thing. Everyone smoked. I can remember my mother playing bridge with her lady friends and they all smoked. It was consider odd if you didn’t smoke. My husband smoked for many years and quit about 10 years after we were married. He never smoked in the house . But the most amazing thing to me was that smoking was allowed in hospitals at one time. Oh my! When I had my first 2 sons in 1973 and 1974 smoking was allowed in the maternity ward! This was a well known hospital. There were few non-smoking rooms (private) and I remember requesting one even though it was extra cost. When I had my second son for some reason they put me in a maternity ward and mothers were smoking around their babies. Even then studies showed the harm of cigarette smoking but smoking was allowed. I remember bursting into tears and finally moved into a non smoking room. I look back and that just amazes me. Didn’t mean to get long winded here. Always enjoy reading your blog daily.
Unbelievable! In the maternity ward!
I tried a cigarette when I was 15 and hated it. Never had a desire to ever try it again. Both my parents smoked in the house and my dad in the car with the windows rolled up and us kids in the back seat with our shirts up over our noses and mouths, begging my dad to crack a window. My mom only smoked 1 cigarette a day – after dinner. She quit many, many years ago. My dad died of heart disease when he was only 63. My husband’s mother was a smoker and died from lung cancer when she was only 51. Back to my dad…me and my sister hated my dad smoking so much that we used to hide his cigarettes or even break them in half and put them back in the pack. We thought, in our own innocent childish ways, that it would make him quit. Of course, it didn’t and only made him angry.
I can always tell a smoker when I see a middle-aged person because their face is always very lined, not a healthy color, and they have thin lips. And the smell…OMG. I am so sensitive to the odor of cigarette smoke that when a smoker even passes me in a store, it makes me gag. Unfortunately, my son smokes. Not a heavy smoker, but I still hate it. He knows how we (me and Brian) feel about it, but it doesn’t do any good to nag or lecture him. He KNOWS. Someday, hopefully, he will be smart enough and strong enough to quit.
I am very sensitive to it, as well, Melanie. I am so glad I stopped smoking!
Smoking was the thing, wasn’t it? I started in college….and continued for quite a few years. But…I’m happy to say…I am now smoke free…for five years! I used to enjoy smoking…I did quit for three pregnancies, but started up all over again. None of my sons smoke…but they have tried it, so I’ve been told. My hubby still smokes, but only outside. And that’s hard when it’s so cold out. I’m thrilled that I quit…but I have to admit…every once on a while…I still want one! Shhhh! ;)
It was. My brother smoked, my dad smoked, most of my friends’ parents smoked. My mom, thankfully, never smoked a day in her life.
I had my fist cigarette at age 13. I had my last on March 7, 2013. At times I was 3+ pack a day smoker. I always vowed I would quit, but I didn’t quit before I have to live with the lasting effects. COPD is a great motivator. Not being able to breathe is not fun, and smoking was so not worth it.
On a lighter note. My mom was never a smoker. However, she would always have 1, just one cigarette a year. On her birthday. It was part of her annual celebration.
Congratulations, Trudy! That is a very big deal and I’m a proud of you. I’m sorry you have to deal with COPD, but surely quitting smoking will help a bit.
I’m a non-smoker. I hate the smell of cigarettes on people, clothes, furniture. Even if clothes are washed they stink. We parents never smoked, but unfortunately, all my sons are smokers. I wonder for how long …
It stays in fabric, that smokey smell. It’s almost impossible to get rid of.
Both of my parents smoked multi-packs every day. The house and our clothes reeked. Back in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and beyond, it seemed everyone smoked, so we all must have smelled/ reeked the same. I tried a cigarette when I was a freshman in college, and I gagged. So gross. My Dad smoked til he died at age 73 of heart and circulatory problems (On Christmas Day… Happy Holidays!) and my Mom smoked until we checked her into the hospital after her diagnosis of lung cancer. She HAD to give them up then because, by 2006 of course, there was no smoking in the hospital….. and then on to the nursing home. It was painful to watch her die in just 7 months following her diagnosis of such a horrible disease. I have bronchial problems and adult onset asthma which I credit to all of the smoke in the house, car, and everywhere we ever went “back in the day”. My husband is a music teacher and never smoked and thankfully neither of our children nor their spouses smoke. If fact, I don’t really know anyone close to us that does smoke any longer. Times have changed, certainly for the better in this case.
I often wonder if my allergies and sinus problems are the result of all that smoke in the house when I was a kid. I’ll never know for sure. It also seems like every one of my friends had parents who smoked. It was sort of a given at the time.
I did smoke Claudia..From high school until I got pregnant with my only child in my 30’s..He was born two months before I turned 36..I stopped the day I found out out I was pregnant..It took me so long to get pregnant that I was determined to do everything I could to make sure he was healthy..Fast forward 23-24 years and I have breathing problems and have to go through a breathing test to find out what is wrong..turns out that I have something called Small Airway Disease..caused by my smoking 24 years ago..that’s how long smoking can affect your health..now I carry inhalers everywhere and am bothered by extreme heat and cold weather and other conditions..my advice..quit smoking today..and pray that it doesn’t come back some day to haunt you!
It can affect your health in so many ways, Nancy. I’m sorry you have to deal with Small Airway Disease. Thank goodness you stopped smoking when you did!
And I’m grateful I stopped my brief period of smoking 28 years ago. The best thing I did.
I smoked a couple packs a day (the Light ones of courseI ;-) for about 20 years….”it helped my diet”. I enjoyed it….loved the smell in fact. In 2002, I got very sick and scared….and quit cold turkey. My husband continued to smoke for 3 months and then he quit too. Claudia, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was Constant talking to myself and literally going one hour at a time on some days. But I’m so thankful I was able to do it….I gained so much power and strength from doing it. It’s the most wonderful feeling to have control…..for those who struggle with nicotine addiction, I suggest they find a good quit website (back then, it was I-Village that had quit smoking boards) ….protect yourself from as many stresses as possible, go day by day. I never told myself I was quitting smoking ~ only that I was quitting That day. Being smoke free is so worth it. It’s the best present you can give yourself and your family.
I was thin when I was young and when I was smoking, I was even thinner. Many friends who were dancers smoked all the time because they didn’t want to gain weight. I think that still happens with dancers.
Hey Claudia – I grew up in a house where most of the kids smoked. Dad smoked like a chimney and later died of lung cancer. I was the baby by six years so I started smoking around 13 or 14 years old. No one in my house could tell because our house and clothes and curtains always smelled of smoke. Mom used to take down the heavy drapes and wash them by hand once a year (we couldn’t afford professional cleaning). She also used to wash every wall in the house once a year and make my Dad help her. Pails and pails of nicotine laced waste water.
I pretty much stopped smoking at 16. It wasn’t any fun when it was legal. After that I’d smoke the odd one in a social setting but it’s been almost 30 years since last lit up. Our family hates smoking, especially since my Dad’s death. I still have 2 sisters and a nephew who smokes but they have to do it outside! J
I don’t think any of my nieces and nephews smoke, but I can’t say that for certain. Hopefully, they will stay smoke-free!
I quit on July 4th back in the early 90’s. That was my Independence Day. And my lungs and my wallet have thanked me every day since!
By the way, I loved your post about Don the other day – it was awesome!
Donna
Good for you, Donna! It is indeed Independence Day, in more ways than one!
I never smoked, but grew up in a household full of second hand smoke. My dad died of lung cancer at 72 as a result of smoking. My ex husband smoked two to three packs of cigarettes a day. He now has emphysema. I really wonder if second hand smoke is as dangerous as reported, because if it was, I’d be dead. Still, I don’t like to be around smokers, and when I remarried, it was to a non-smoker. My three adult kids are non smokers, but two of them did smoke in their early twenties.
It’s so much easier when you’re married to a non-smoker!
I started smoking my first evening at college. My parents dropped me off at my dorm. I met my roommate and Cindy and I went to the cafeteria for dinner. Afterwards several of us went outside to the grounds of our campus and lit up. I felt ill from the smoke but oh so sophisticated! After that the smoking continued but I was never a very committed smoker. Never ever smoked in the morning and rarely during the day. At night I would have one or two while studying but oddly, never became hooked. After college I went to NYC for a bit then on to Bahrain where everyone smoked all of the time. Once again, never in the morning but always in the evening. My perpetual evening attire was ~ little black dress, cigarette in one hand, cocktail glass in the other. I was Holly Golightly! Then I came down with pneumonia. A particularly bad case of pneumonia and out went the cigarettes for good. Yet despite the enormous health risks, there is still the whole smoking mystique that I find appealing. Do you remember seeing the character of Phoebe on Frasier when she tried to stop smoking? She described in great detail every seductive aspect of smoking from tearing off the cellophane on the pack to inhaling the smoke in her lungs. Frasier, Martin, NIles, Roz and Daphne hung on every word and when Phoebe was finished with her description everyone looked like they just had sex. So funny!
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Yes, played by Harriet Harris, one of my favorite actresses! I just saw that episode again not too long ago!
By the way, I used to get Bronchitis every year while I was smoking. The minute I stopped, no more Bronchitis.
Very interesting comments, it makes me realize that my parents weren’t so different from others. I yo-yo smoked for a long time and finally just said, “This is it!” I never looked back. I have no idea why it was so easy…my mind was just totally focused on getting it out of my life. I actually feel sorry for so many smokers because it is an addiction and so very, very hard to quit. The best advice we can do is advise the younger generation not to start.
XO,
Jane
Yes, it was easy for me to quit, too. But I know how hard it is for others.
I meant…the best thing we can do!!
XO,
Jane
I tried it…but found out that it wasn’t me. Kind of a cool thing to do. But I think I only tried two and then wasn’t interested anymore. I did grow up with a smoker in the house (dad). Just never liked the smell.
Good for you, Teresa.
Even though my father was a president of a tobacco company and there was always cigarette smoke in my house growing up, I have never been a smoker. I tried it and it made me sick. ICK!!! I hate the smell of it now. xo Laura
I hate the smell of it as well. My brother-in-law (husband of estranged sister) worked for a tobacco company for years.
I never smoked a day in my life. My dad smoked in the house for years and then stopped cold turkey one day when he was in his 50s, I think. My ex-husband also smoked in the house. It never bothered me then because I had come from a house where smoking occurred. Now I cannot stand the smell. The funny thing is, I am southern born and raised on a tobacco farm – ha!
The smell didn’t bother me when I was a kid, but it sure bothers me now, Cate.
Funny you should ask!! I smoked in my early twenties. When I started dating John I was a smoker. After about our third date, he looked at me one night and said “I can’t stand to see a woman smoking those awful things. If you want to go out with me again, you have to get rid of the cigarettes”. I was already so head over heels in love with him that I stopped that night and have never had another one. I knew he was the “one”. From our first date, six weeks later we were married. Am I glad I gave up smoking – for more than one reason. LOL
Judy
Good for John! And good for you, Judy.
Now e cigs are the big thing for the kids. Pacific Beach in San Diego is full of Vape stores. It makes me sick. Also, smoking pot is the norm now too. I know it’s a different topic, but the kids start in high school with spice, start cigs and e cigs and then get a med card for pot when they r not sick. (Long sentences… not worried abt grammar:) 30 years after she quit smoking my mom got COPD due to smoking. Never take good health for granted. Society teaches kids what is cool and I hate it.
Yes, I see ads for e cigs. And I never smoked pot because I couldn’t stand the smell of it!
Never taken a single drag on a cigarette. I believe I was lucky on 3 counts. 1/ The first public & school campaigns on the evils of smoking began just as I entered jr high, so I was well-aware that smoking was unhealthy. 2/For better or worse, I’ve never been someone who needed/wanted to do what everyone else was doing, so smoking didn’t appeal to me for that reason either. 3/The smell of smoking was completely distasteful to me. I wanted to be as far from it as possible. Both parents smoked and I was always complaining about the stink. I got even louder after hearing about smoking dangers in school.
The smell wasn’t distasteful to me when I was a kid. I don’t like it at all now!
Ah smoking. What a topic. I grew up with smoking parents, and it was horrible to us as kids. We didn’t have air conditioned cars back then. Our parents would smoke in the front seat and flick their ashes out the windows. They didn’t know/care that the ashes were blowing back in on us in the back seat. What’s ironic is that this mostly happened when we were on our way home from visiting Grandpa and Grandma who was a smoker with emphysema.
My husband Rick’s parents also smoked. Rick hated it while growing up and would sneak little explosive charges into his mom’s cigarettes. She’d get so mad at him. She learned to check the tips of her cigarettes before lighting them. Rick then moved the charges further down the cigarettes closer to the mouth end. Just as she’d get comfortable that he hadn’t tampered with her cigs one would explode… They laughed about it for years, until Rick’s mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. She had surgery to remove half of one lobe, and is cancer free right now.
His brother smoked from his teenage years, through the tours of duty in Vietnam and up until just a couple years ago.
He has emphysema, COPD, and heart disease now. It’s been tough watching him go through several admits to the hospital with one breathing crisis after another. We thought we were going to loose him earlier this year and he doesn’t want to live this way, not being able to breathe. He’s told us that he wishes to not fight the battle the next time it gets bad. It’s been hard on my husband.
We were adamant as parents about our kids not smoking. They both did for a couple of years and now are nonsmokers. You know all that advertising about talking to you kids about not smoking. We did, and it didn’t help.
For some reason, it really pisses me off to see those commercials now. Ah well, I’m just thankful that I never wanted to smoke, and neither did my husband. I’m really grateful that my kids stopped.
This issue has really touched our lives. I read your post earlier this morning and came back to see what your readers had to say and add my own experience with this subject.
It clearly has touched your lives. Smoking’s harmful effects can be found in most every family, whether it’s from secondhand smoke or results in COPD, Emphysema or Lung Cancer. So sad.
nope. watched my grandmother die a horrible death from smoking. she had lung cancer. have a family member or two that still do. i can remember going to see a few elderly relatives in the hospital years ago and people smoking in the same room with the oxygen tanks!!?? crazy!
Unbelievable!
PS – my mother always felt guilty -and told us so – about smoking while she was pregnant with her 7 babies. But it was the 50s and 60s – and no one knew much if anything about smoking’s effect on health. What’s scary to me is – gulp – when are we going to hear that microwave ovens – or computers – are evil incarnate?
You never know, unfortunately.
I started smoking in the 70’s in high school. It was considered very cool back then and all the kids smoked. We loved going to the clubs when we were older smoking, and occasional drinking went together. Smoking was so glamourized
especially in movies like you mentioned, so it encouraged many to light up. I enjoyed it so I kept doing it even though I knew it was bad for me. I was totally addicted and so was everyone else. I didn’t realize I smelled like an ashtray most of the time, I was so used to smoking, but my family did, and could always tell when I’d been smoking. My Dad smoked when he was younger, but he quit when we were young.
I finally quit 20 years ago, in 1993. I smoked rather heavily at times for almost 20 years, I had developed bronchitis and my boyfriend at the time didn’t smoke, so that gave me the reason that I needed to quit for good. I’m so glad I did. What a disgusting habit it was, I felt like it controlled my life and was ruining my health. I hated huddling outside in the cold on breaks from work and smoking. It was tough to quit. I have to admit I became sick for a few weeks as the toxins were leaving my body. I was so motivated to quit that I didn’t give in and have a puff, even though I wanted one badly. I knew if I did I would become addicted again. I still have a recurring dream once in a while that I’m smoking, and when I wake up and realize it was a dream I am so thankful. Sadly, my sister and her hubby still smoke, they’re in their 60’s. I don’t hassle them about it they know how bad it is. I just try and encourage them that it’s never too late to quit.
I’m glad that you quit smoking after a few years. I just wanted to share my smoking story, so thanks for opening up the discussion!
As I said in an earlier comment, when I was smoking I could count on having bronchitis every year. As soon as I stopped, I never got it again!
My mother and father both smoked. My sister does also. My brother did but doesn’t now. I’ve never smoked past the one cigarette that told me it wasn’t worth it. I’m so glad I never got hooked. My hubby smoked for years but quit once but went back to it. He then gave it up after almost having a wreck on the Nimitz Freeway in Northern California over 30 years ago and never smoked again. I’m so glad he did because none of our friends smoke now. It’s a pleasure to not have to deal with the smoke and smells. But the hypocrites in Hollywood tell us not to, but just about everyone of them has been captured with cigarettes in their mouths. When will they learn? I absolutely support their right to do as they please but I resent others telling ME what I should and should not do.
xoxo,
Connie
None of our close friends smoke either, Connie. It’s refreshing.
Oh dear yes I smoked! For 11 years from age 14 to 25 and it was no easy task quitting but I did it. Smoke free for 33 and a half years now! My husband never smoked, thank goodness! It is true that smell follows one around like a stray dog that has decided to make you take him home with you… it reeks! It’s nice to not smell like an ashtray anymore :D
Hugs
Isn’t it? So much nicer!
I smoked in high school. We would go out to the stop sign at the end of the school parking lot to smoke in the morning and at lunch. We would freeze our butts off in the winter with our short skirts on. Now I hibernate in the winter.
I quit when I got pregnant the first time. In 1982 and haven’t smoked since. Of course that was many pounds ago. My hubby smoked and quit at the same time. We never looked back.
Now my son smokes. :( He’s 26 and I hope he comes to his senses soon.
pam
Oh, when I quit my Marlboro habit a pack was 75 cents.
Now a pack of cigarettes costs several dollars. Just the expense alone would keep me from smoking again!
The cigarette box is exquisite but I abhor cigarette smoke now! Yep, unfortunately I was a smoker. I started at 16 and quit at age 23. A long 7 year smoking career. I shudder when I think of how I smelled as a child having lived with a smoker but then lots of kids came from smoking homes back then. I quit because I kept getting bronchitis. Good for you and Don for quitting. I think more and more people are quitting these days.
What an interesting topic Claudia! Both of my grandpas smoked, and we were around them a lot, and my mom smoked for about 10 years while my brother and I were growing up. Almost 20 years ago (at the age of 37) I had a heart attack followed by heart bypass surgery. The doctor had no real explanation for what happened other than the possibility of 2nd hand smoke. Now I’m on disability because of the effects of heart disease, and severe breathing issues … and I’ve never smoked a day in my life!
I smoke and belong to a family of smokers.
My grandparents lived till they are nearly 100 years old and in a very good health.
Yes more and more people are quitting these days ,I wish them all the best.
Nobody has right to lecture me.Do I look older?
Well I DO NOT HAVE MANY WORRIES,My life is the way I wish to be.
I am healthy by the way and happy!
Never. I have asthma. My dad gave it up when I started having asthma attacks around 5 years of age. Some of your sentences made me laugh. It does seem incredible that people used to smoke in movie theaters (in the smoking section) and at restaurants. As if the non-smokers couldn’t smell the smoke. I worked for a newspaper in a room full of smokers, who of course were allowed to smoke on the job. It was very hard on me with my asthma. Now I hear, of course, that there is no smoking in the building where I worked. Society changes. Now instead of cigarettes we are all addicted to our cell phones – guilty!!! Ann
My dad died at the age of 43 on my 17th birthday from lung cancer. He smoked for years but had quit a few years before he came down with cancer . He had less than 3 months after his diagnose. My mother smoked off and on all of her 89 years. I have asthma and have never smoked. Mother used to ask me to light her cigarettes and I always refused. Even when she wasn’t smoking that’s the section of restaurants she wanted to sit in because “those people were nicer”. I would tell her she could choose to sit with her family or in the smoking section without us. She always chose us. LOL
I started to smoke when I was in high school.. They cost 45 cents a pack then. I smoked for a good number of years..but when I got really heavy into quilting… I could not afford cigarettes and fabric…..so I quit… Cold turkey.. And I did great for many years.. Had a short relapse about 15 years ago.. My husband traveled a lot.. So it was easy to sneak a few while he was gone.. Then i quit again.. just not somethng i wanted to do anymore..My husband smoked for many years, he quit about 18 years ago when we became grandparents. I am very glad I quit…I have LOTS of fabric to keep me busy. And I really do hate the smell of smoke on people and on clothes….and especially on quilts.
NEVER EVER!!!!!
My father smoked and passed away at 44 years “young” from lung cancer. I was 16 at the time and made a commitment to never fall into that trap. I hated the way our house smelled from my dad’s smoking. I hated that he was no longer around because of “cigarettes”. As I reached the ripe age of 44 I could not believe that was all the life he had. What he missed out on!!!! No way for me!!!!
Addie
All my friends smoked in high school..I didn’t….My parents didn’t believe me and made me sit down in the living room and smoke a cigarette..That was the begining..I guess I smoked on and off til 40…There was a time that I only smoked at work..What else do you do on a break?? Never smoked in my house or in my car..
PS…That box is gorgeous…a true keepsake..
I gave up smoking at age 8 1/2. It’s true! Then I decided I’d rather spend my allowance on Hershey bars. They cost 5 cents at the time. After that, we three children nagged Mom to stop. She cut back to 3 a day, then none thereafter. In high school, I volunteered at the cancer research hospital. All the doctors bought cigarettes from machines under the staircase…. Amazed me then, still shocks!