I smoked 2+ packs a day for 40+ years, Luckies for years, then
cowboy killers, until a heart attack in 1995. My last cigarette
was on February 15, 1995, at 2:15 p.m., and I enjoyed every puff.
I even remember each of the fellow smokers I was talking to at the
time as we stood in exile out in the cold, plotting against those
inside who didn't have to leave the building to support their
cravings.
Then came the oral cancer in 1999, a result, I am told, of 40+
years of smoking, plus three or four years ignoring the symptoms.
The surgery was most unpleasant, particularly since I had to
endure five days of hospitalization when I was unable to speak a
word because of all the crap in my mouth. Being a very verbal
sort, that was all but unbearable. I couldn't write on my little
board fast enough to express one tenth of my contempt for the
entire process. The Demerol was nice, though! :-)
After the surgery and six weeks of radiation treatments, I seem to
have licked it. To date, no problems.
Anyway, I never knew smoking was such a stinky habit, having grown
up in a houseful of smokers and having had smoking friends and
wives most of my life. But now I can drive down the street behind
someone who is smoking in their car with their windows down, and,
even if my windows are rolled up and the air conditioner is on, I
can smell it. If I get on an elevator with someone who smokes, I
can smell it literally oozing from their clothes.
My wife collects cookbooks of a certain kind (although she never
seems to use any), and it's obvious the minute one arrives from a
smoking home. But it's nothing that a few days in the open air
won't cure. Heck, now it's even starting to look like that
secondhand smoke crap they tried to scare all the wussy -- excuse
me -- all the non-smokers with for years was a lie all along, as
many of us always suspected. So I'm pretty sure the smell won't
kill you.
By the way, if I make to 80, I'm going to start smoking again. My
wife says I may.
Walt
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