Memorial Day is typically the day we honor those who have died in service to our Country. Those who have given their lives so that we might continue to be free.
I have several relatives and friends who have served in our armed forces, in the trenches of the Korean war on up to the present. And I am grateful for their service and their sacrifice.
But this particular blog is not so much a salute to them as it is a remembrance of those who lost their lives due to this addiction. They were in the trenches of it. And those trenches are just as ugly. The death, however, wasn’t as quick.
My husband quit smoking the day he was on the phone with his best friend (the best man at our wedding) who told him he had lung cancer. His name was Kiel Martin. You may know him from Hill Street Blues (if you’re old enough). For my husband, there was no problem quitting. That solidified it for him instantly. Kiel changed my husband’s life and perhaps added years to it. Kiel died of lung cancer about 3 months after that phone call. He was a smoker.
The man who brought me to this site so many years ago back in 2008 (Ray Steele aka/Manofsteele) is no longer with us. I give thanks for him for his encouragement of my quit and for his wisdom. It is because of him that I am on this site.
Many of us come to this quitting place much too late. When the effects of our smoking have finally impacted our everyday lives. When the “should have” has turned into the “must.” Don’t wait until the “must” is my advice.
I honor those who have quit and those who try. And I grieve for those who are no longer with us because they didn’t know or couldn’t or wouldn’t or waited that one inhale too long. And I dedicate my 112,308 unsmoked cigarettes to them all.
Here are the people I know who have passed on from this site. If you’re a new member, it might help you to read their blogs That’s the legacy they leave after all - for all of us.
ManOfSteel (Ray) https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/manofsteele
Courage (Fannie) https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/courage
TheOldGoat (Joan) https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/theoldgoat-joan-10-21-1994
Dawn https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/dawn4
Doris: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/doris
MamaDeb: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/mamadeb
Carlie: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/people/carlie
With hope for all.
