Two painful stories related to smoking. Weekend Engagement #171

This publication tears at my soul and consumes me like the fire that burns the cigarette and the life of every smoker. This is because in this post I will expose the unfortunate experience I have with smoking that has contributed to the loss of two loved ones.

I have read some posts about this initiative and in a comment I made to @lisfabian's post I told her that I would possibly share my experience and thanked her for the courage she had to quit smoking after 13 years. Likewise that her father also quit this harmful habit.

Cigarettes and me

Like many boys of my age, we went to study at schools where we lived most of our time. In my case I started in a boarding school at the age of 12. At this stage the boys follow their peers more than the older ones because the adolescent is interested in being with his "little friends". Well, when I was in eighth grade I started smoking, a habit that I had for 15 years and that, fortunately I was able to quit for a birthday when I gave myself the gift of quitting smoking and I was able to do it.

Smoking caused me some health problems that I was able to mitigate because I was young and had a very good physical preparation as a result of my systematic practice of sports.

Two painful experiences

My maternal grandmother smoked for 55 years and passed away at 76. Thinking about this tears me apart, tears me up, tears me up because my grandmother's last year was brutal. What she went through I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy because she was sitting in a chair the whole time with an oxygen balloon so she could breathe. Every time that oxygen balloon had to be changed I would leave so that she would not see me cry because that short period of time that sometimes lasted less than a minute seemed like a century to her and her whole body would convulse from the lack of air in her shattered lungs.

My grandmother passed away on August 29, 1989 and the cause of death was lung cancer as a result of cigarette smoking.

The other experience is related to the one who gave me life.

My mother also smoked for several years of her life. 47, to be exact, and although she had periods when she reduced her consumption due to pressure from her children, the truth is that she did not quit because we knew that she smoked in secret. One day we told ourselves that it was her decision and we tried to get her to smoke cigarettes with filters that do a little less harm, but it is still harmful.

In 2017 she had to have a pacemaker put in and I lost her on April 20, 2018. On the death certificate was again smoking as causing the death penalty.

My criteria regarding smoking

• I respect everyone's smoking habit, but I demand that they respect my health so I do not like smoking around me because being a passive smoker is as harmful as the one who consumes cigarettes permanently.
• I am against smoking because it is a killer of personal and family health.
• I think there is a lack of information on the subject: You should have the freedom to choose, but you should know what you are facing. For example. I like to drink beer and I know that a couple of beers will not harm me, but if I drink more, it will. If I do it is my responsibility because I know the damage.
• I believe that prohibition is not the way because we humans are addicted and we have habits of seeking the forbidden. The way is education.
• The consumption of cigarettes should not be allowed in public places or in educational or welfare centers.

A final comment

I have no photos of my grandmother that I can show in this publication and my mother's was the last time I saw her alive.
If I have learned anything in this ecosystem or at least I try to contribute to social welfare and try, as far as possible, to contribute with my experiences to the common good.

I thank @galenkp for proposing these topics on habits and being able to expose our personal experiences and criteria on the subject.

The photos were taken with my Samsung J2 phone.
I used the translator DeepL Translate.