From Smoking To Quitting

My dad had been smoking since he was about 11 or 12 years old. He started smoking because he thought it would be fun, he thought it would be cool, and he wanted to rebel. I had never liked the fact that he smoked. He would always smell like smoke, and he would constantly cough or clear his throat.

At a young age, I would try to get him to quit. For example, when I saw him smoke, I would give him the silent treatment. Of course, being as little as I was, I did not know that the silent treatment has little effect on someone dealing with an addiction.

As I got older, I learned not only about the dangers of smoking and the ways it can harm the person who smokes, but also how it can harm the people around them. I got scared when I heard that one effect of secondhand smoke was death.

Year after year, I tried to get my dad to quit. He kept trying to quit, but the longest amount of time he could quit for was 6 months. He tried to quit numerous times, but his addiction was so strong that he could not quit. My whole family thought he would never quit.

But on October 7, 2005, he quit for good. His reasoning was: “The 7-11 near our house had just closed down, I ran out of cigarettes, and I figured if I was going to have to drive to CVS to get cigarettes, I might as well get Nicorette gum.”

This day of decision was preceded by much preparation. On the American Cancer Society Web site, it said that the chance of lung cancer for people who have quit smoking for 20 years is almost the same as for nonsmokers. He realized that since he was in his 40s and most people get lung cancer in their 60s, the time to quit was now. He has not smoked another cigarette since then.

I feel so proud of my dad. He no longer smells like smoke when I hug him. I feel so much better knowing that his body is healing the damage of years of smoking. I am glad that he is more likely to see my children. Seeing how hard it was for my dad to quit, the best thing to do is to never start.

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