It only seems like a year ago that I married the love of my life, shown here in our 1973 wedding reception. I can’t imagine life without him. Nor do I want to. Fate and some unhealthy habits nearly took that choice away from us.
I can't tell you the number of times I tried to quit smoking and failed, but I can tell you that I smoked my last cigarette January 2009.
When the cardio surgeon told me that my husband could NEVER smoke again, something screamed in my brain that I WILL NOT BE HIS STUMBLING BLOCK! For me, it took a HUGE incentive - that being the life of my hubby.
We just had our wedding anniversary yesterday. We ALMOST didn't have the last 3 anniversaries together. Yes...he was classified as a candidate for “sudden death” in January 2009. I suppose that for some of us, a shock is necessary to get the brain in gear. I can’t say that I’m happy by how it all happened that both hubby and I are smoke free, but I am pleased with the result. Today, we are both healthier and looking forward to many more years together. For that reason...I will never smoke again.
If YOU need to stop smoking, I hope your incentive is as HUGE as mine was because with an incentive like that, failure was not an option. Don’t let all of the negatives take away your positive. So what if you gain a few pounds…at least you won’t be huffing and puffing when the time comes to take them off.
Should you be kicking the habit at this time or any time in the future, I wish you the very best success. Then, I hope you will encourage someone in the future as I hope I have encouraged you. It CAN be done and you will be so much happier and healthier for the effort it takes to become tobacco free. BEST WISHES!!!
Life is fragile and you never know what the future holds. One year from today, you may wish you took the effort it takes to quit. One year from today, you can already have one year smoke free and feeling the healthy benefits of having kicked the habit. One year from today could easily be a whole different reality for you. Life is a series of choices. Make good choices because your life or the life of a loved one may very well hang in the balance.
One year from yesterday, I believe my hubby and I will celebrate another anniversary. Yes...it DOES make that much difference!
Marvelous!
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate for you that he is in your life to be your incentive--you have truly held each other up through this. What a rare love. My husband and I have been married thirteen years (I just had to actually COUNT that in my head--did not readily retrieve). I hope one day to be able to write such a love story...
Definitely a post from your heart. Very well written and your love and devotion is admirable.
ReplyDeleteYou may well have inspired a future non-smoker who was on the edge.
What a wonderful post and I am happy you are both healthier!
ReplyDelete@ Amy: So glad to meet you. I wish I could say it was always good. We had many trials over the years, including 2 divorces from each other. Our last marriage (#3 to each other) was 1990 and I'm happy to say that this time we have 21 years all in a row! But, even in our divorced times, we still couldn't stay away from each other. LOL... We should have stayed married and saved the attorney/court fees...
ReplyDelete@Jo: I actually wrote most of this as a comment to another blogger who was on day #3 of no smoking. I wanted to encourage her that it could be done. After I was done with my rather long comment, I decided to turn it into a PSA blog... LOL.. So, with some minor changes and a few additions to the comment, we have this blog. I too hope to encourage smokers to bite the bullet and stop once and for all. I am much healthier and happier being smoke free and the best part of all is that my husband is healthy again as well. He had a very close call and I consider that it was only by the grace of God that I am not a widow today.
Thank you both for visiting/commenting on my blog. Many blessings~
@Claudia: Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteGood going Darlene!
ReplyDeleteQuitting isn't easy, and though it took my dad years to quit, he's happy, healthy and working full time at 82.
You two can do anything, anything at all.
Love this Darlene--you bring an important message--which is--if you want to quit--you can--it takes effort but it can be done. I can't speak from experience here--but I've seen some of the hardest cores smokers out there quit--including my cousin, after the docs told his wife that even second hand smoke could kill her. She was on life support for 3.5 weeks because her COPD sent her there. She was only 47. So...the man that said he'd never quit, (my cousin) did quit, and he knows time is precious with her.
ReplyDeleteI wish you and your hubby another 38 years--of healthiness and happiness...I'll be rooting for you!! Cheers, Jenn.
@ Diva: God bless your Dad. My Dad died at age 75. If he had lived longer, he would have turned 83 just 2 weeks ago. My Dad quit smoking when he was 50, so he was smoke free for the last 25 years. But, it wasn't early enough. Dad had heart disease. Thank you so much for visiting. I was actually reading your blog, left the window open while I cooked supper, washed dishes, fed pets and chatted with hubby for a couple of hours. LOL...your blog is still open on another page. I'll finish it tonight. (I'm scattered sometimes!)
ReplyDelete@Jenn: I love that your cousin quit smoking for his wife. He must be a special man. I've often thought about a story I heard once. A woman was diagnosed with lung cancer and when she told her husband, he told her that she could quit smoking, but he wasn't going to quit. Then he kept smoking. Later on, his vet told him that his dog could get cancer from his second hand smoke. He quit smoking for his dog!!! I would have divorced him on the spot!!! Oops! Did I say that? LOL His priorities were way out of order!
Thank you both for visiting/commenting on my blog.
Good for you! Good for BOTH of you!
ReplyDeleteThis is a post that hits close to my heart. My mom died a few months before I turned 17 after suffering for years with smoking-induced emphysema.
I am a very upbeat person and a card-carrying pacifist, but I would pay good money to slap the shit out of the CEOs of the big tobacco companies. They've admitted to purposefully and knowingly added ingredients to their products that increase their addictive qualities and enormously increase its toxicity. Bastards.
WOW Beth!!! I never heard you that outspoken about anything before!!! You go girl!!!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you lost your Mom that way. It truly is hard to watch someone with COPD. I understand your strong feelings in this topic because I feel very strongly about this too.
A lot accomplished in a year. I wish my son would stop smoking. Good for you.
ReplyDeletePam
A Pirate Looks Past Sixty
Your son will quit smoking when he has a strong enough reason to do so. Honestly, I didn't think that I could ever quit, but when my husband's life was on the line, it was all over. I knew that I would never smoke again because I did not want to be a stumbling block. I do hope your son quits. Life is so much better without nicotine!
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