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Share your quitting journey

How old is that slide?

gregp136
Member
4 8 107

Coming to the playground this morning, I thought it would be kind of quiet.  I figured with all the kids going on the school trip to Virginia Beach only a few people would be left.  Boy was I wrong.  There are a lot of people still here and even those on the school trip are stopping by for a bit.

This really is an amazing playground, and it has been here a long time.  Some of us may think it started with the website in 2008.  Many of us would not have found the playground if it was not for that.  But there are a few Elders who found the playground on other sites. 

 

The playground, though, was around long before that.  Look at the swings.  They keep them in good repair, and while freshly painted, they don’t make swings like that anymore.  Big and strong, with chains that will last forever.  And the Merry Go Round.  It is huge.  It is made of wood, and not plastic.  And that tree with the tire swing!  It is an old oak that must be 200 years old! The playground was here long before computers.  It has grown and changed, but it has been here.

 

The first time I heard anything about the playground was actually before I started smoking.  I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  The kids, Jem and Scout, were reading to Mrs. Dubose, and she was having her “fits” before the alarm clock went off.  It turned out Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict, and got to the playground by the kids reading to her.  It was a different part of the playground, but it was still this playground.  It  is here to beat addiction.

 

So yes, the slide and the monkey bars have been around a long time.  When Bill W wrote the Big Book, the playground was here.  When my parents struggled to quit smoking on their own, they found the playground.  When Vietnam Vets came home struggling with addictions acquired in Southeast Asia, well, they came to the playground.

 

I am so happy to be part of this playground, and to have joined all of those who have come here before me, and will be coming after me.  I am an addict but I will never be alone on my FOREVER quit because I found all of you!

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About the Author
I am 64 now. Living, breathing, keeping busy, but yet...failing. It is time to stop failing, at least when it comes to quitting smoking.