Great American Smoke Out

Hard to believe its going on 7 years that I quit smoking. After taking up smoking in high school, I smoked (Newports mostly) for the next 25 years!  OUCH!!  Thats about 175,000 cigarettes!  Shame on me!  If there is one bright spot it has to be that my kids will never smoke.  Thank you God for that!

I remember my first “drag” when I was a little kid.  Anne Marie’s friend Binka smoked in front of our house and tossed a butt.  I grabbed it and took a drag to show off in front of the older kids. Must have been 7 or 8 years old. In 8th grade me and some school friends started smoking.  On the 8th grade retreat we all snuck Marlboro’s and swisher sweets (along with some beer). I guess that was the real beginning.  I think sophmore year of high school I started to smoke to where I got hooked, and did so til right around my 40th birthday. With the 40th milestone looming, it really opened my eyes that I had been a smoker for 25 years.

Quitting is easy. I’ve done it a hundred times

Maybe not a hundred but I quit more than a few times. Once for over two years. Tried the patch, tried the gum, tried some cold turkey. In the end it was combo of everything plus a strong dose of will power. Still get a “twinge” once in a while. But they are fewer and farther between. Thank GOD!