My mother died Christmas Morning 2002 at the age of 65 from lung cancer. My dad died a little over eight years later at the age of 88 of esophageal cancer. I know my dad had it when I was in highschool and then was in remission. Was his a result of smoking in WW2 and cigars on occasion or because it was secondhand smoke from living with me mom? I have no idea.
How has this impacted me, well I hate smoking. The smell of a cigarette disgusts me and makes me angry. To see people smoking angers me. Pregnant women smoking literally makes me fume inside! Do they not have any consideration for family members? My parents did not ever meet my husband or our child.They never held him, and this crushes me. It does not get easier with time at all. And I think of how cigarettes took my mom from me. She was addicted. She tried quitting and couldn't. I remember pushing her outside when she was in the hospital so she could have a cigarette. At this point you do whatever you can for your loved ones just be happy and feel good.
I remember the call from my dad telling my ex husband the news. I remember sitting in the corner of her hospital room and she had passed away and was laying there. I remember being with my dad right before he passed away. I knew something was "different" in the way he was acting. I was right. As soon as I left he passed away. I was an orphan at the age of 34. Smoking angers me. Big time.
