I shared this series of blog posts with a dear friend of mine. Keith told me about his mother who just recently died of lung cancer that spread through her body. His mom was a heavy smoker all of her life, never listening to her children when they pleaded with her to stop. The lung cancer was a direct result of her decision to smoke.
Near the end of her life she went into dementia and she would pick up a cigarette, fingering it like an old friend, but she couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do with it. Sometimes she’d have three of them between her fingers, and she would just look at them, trying so hard to remember. Once she did remember that it had to be lit with a match, and she lit it in the middle of the cigarette, dropping the match on the floor. Needless to say, at that point all matches and cigarettes were removed from her reach.
Keith’s mom ended up in a care facility until she passed away. We all know that we will one-day die, and in the order of things parents normally die before their children. We accept this fact even if it is painful to say goodbye. However, it’s even harder to say goodbye when you wonder if your mom or dad could have lived years longer if only they hadn’t smoked. Is this a question you want your children pondering? I doubt it!
Keith offered to have me share this sad fact with you, and I hope you’ll take it to heart.
Wishing you well,
Julie