Pink Granite: Please Stop

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Please Stop

If you smoke tobacco, please stop now.
If you chew tobacco, please stop now.

I quit smoking twenty-three years ago, back in 1985.
Today we attended the funeral of a friend of ours who smoked cigarettes nearly his entire adult life.
He died of lung cancer.
He was 61.

Need help? Start here:

American Cancer Society
American Lung Association
Australia - Quit Now
South Africa - Ten Tips To Quit
United Kingdom - Go Smoke Free

I know it’s not easy.
I know it’s worth it.

6 comments:

Sue said...: I cannot agree more!! Although I've never smoked. I tried as a teenager that nearly killed me alone. So sorry to hear about the loss of your friend...

Sue x; June 18, 2008
Fiona said...: So sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Our friend Rose died of lung cancer last year at the young age of 54. My Mother smoked and I am sure she died too early because of it. My husband smokes and it scares me a lot, he quit for 15 years and started again!!!! I always think it is amazing how smokers always have an answer for you when you pick on them, when all the facts are there for them to see. Fiona; June 18, 2008
barbie2be said...: my dear friend Dariana is fighting lung cancer right now.

if you smoke, or chew, please stop. if you don't please don't start.; June 18, 2008
Pink Granite said...: Hi Sue -
I started smoking as a young teenager. I'm so glad your experience as a teen was so negative that it put you off for good!
- Lee

Hi Fiona -
I'm sorry about your friend Rose. It is such a vicious disease. Chuck lost one aunt to it and another had her lung cancer caught early enough that she is now fine after surgery to remove one of the lobes of her lung.

I was stunned to read that your Peter quit for 15 years and then went back! Somehow you imagine that after a few years it gets easier to stay away. It goes to show just how powerful both the habit and chemical addiction is.

I had quit a couple of times for months at a time, but in 1985 I decided that was it. I was so very lucky that at that point it was relatively easy for me. Then as the years went on, there was no way I was going to break my record and have to start over.

I hope Peter quits again soon - this time for another fifteen or twenty or thirty years!
- Lee

Hi B2B -
Please give our best to your friend Dariana (what a beautiful name). We hope she comes through her treatments with flying colors and beats this awful illness.
- Lee; June 18, 2008
Ms Brown Mouse said...: I lost an uncle to lung cancer, it's a terrible way to die and for such a silly reason - burning money!
Never took up the habit thank goodness, though I'm told breathing Sydney air is just as bad, fingers crossed that's wrong.; June 18, 2008
Pink Granite said...: Hi DMM -
There are so many things out in the environment to harm our lungs, it's a shame to add to it with tobacco smoke. I'm sorry about the loss of your uncle. So glad you never started smoking in the first place.

From the photographs of the ocean, the Opera House, etc. I've always imagined Sydney as being lovely and pristine - including the air!
- Lee; June 20, 2008