When I was thirty-years-old it was easy to brag to friends that I had not started smoking until age twenty-two because everybody I knew was puffing from their pre-teen years. Also, at that age it had only been eight years since I picked up the habit.

Flash forward another twenty years and find a habit that has slithered and taken root into every part of my being. You will not hear me brag anymore because now it has been thirty years since the first puff of smoke drawn into my lungs.

The decision to stop smoking has come about gradually. Most smokers would likely agree the idea of smoking cessation doesnt just jump up and kick you in the back side demanding attention. Personal reasons can vary from applying for a position at a company with a no tobacco policy to the higher premiums you will pay for life and medical insurance. In my case the initial seed of a thought to stop smoking was planted while researching an article I was writing about life insurance and compounded from there.

1) My kids told me there is something like fifty different chemicals in cigarettes including arsenic. Personally I didnt research the facts because I do not want to know what Ive been subjecting my lungs, heart and wallet to for thirty years. Both of my girls are allergic to cigarette smoke, cats and mold. For that reason my smoking room for the past several years has been outside in the pole barn. Certainly not glamorous and even more certainly it is cold during Michigan winter.

2) When I walked into the hospital room and saw my Mother gasping for breath and coughing with such force it brought me to tears on the inside and I put a brave face on for her. When you think about it, she is now seventy-seven-years-old and didnt smoke until she was fifty. That means she has been smoking almost the same amount of time as me. Since the latest hospital episode and with the diagnosis of COPD and emphysema she uses an Albuterol Inhaler daily and still smokes. I dont want my kids to see me like that.

3) There are several ways I earn a living in this tiny village and one of them is medical transcription via the internet. Always there are those worse off than we are but when I type about people younger than I am with myriad problems including lung cancer, emphysema, COPD, etc. it does make me take notice.

4) The financial impact of buying tobacco will never end. When I was twenty-two cigarettes were around $1.35 and now the generic brand in Michigan is $4.50. I have read that with tax and everything one pack of cigarettes in New York can cost more than $8. As with many other things in life the financial impact has ended up to be the final straw. How can I justify the smoking expense if I spend $4.50 a day to feed my nicotine habit and barely $5.00 per day to feed my family (plus three dogs and one cat).

This is real life and I am sure the real life issues will make it difficult but, you heard it here first. Today is the first day of my smoke-free life. Will I be successful? Yes. But, it isnt quite time for bed and I still have two cigarettes left in my last pack. Ill keep you posted.

Joanne Robbins has published several articles on a variety of topics. Dealing with our parents as adult children is an extremely important topic and you can find more My Elderly Parent information at http://boomer-gear.com.

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