Starting and stopping cigarettes

Yes, it was a boy that stared my smoking.  Damned boys.  I went to an all girls Catholic high school:  St. Mary of the Angels Academy.  Really.  During our senior year, we went on a religious retreat to some lovely mountain monastery.  I wish I had kept notes; I don't remember the name of the place, but it was beautiful, peaceful, and had, as a bonus, a group of boys on retreat from an all boys high school.  That's were I met him: Doug.  Gorgeous, sexy, Doug with long blonde hair and an air of danger.  How attractive is that to a sheltered, shy, young-for-her-age girl?  Ah, Doug.  It was love.  He and I established a long-distance relationship.  Well, it was long distance if you're a teenager without a car.  He sneaked out of his house and got a bus to visit me during the Christmas holidays.  His parents called.  They had no idea where he had gone.  This boy...sigh.  Yes, Doug smoked cigarettes, and soon, so did I.  Doug found his soul mate in college and dropped me.  So, he was gone, but my cigarette habit lasted for twelve years.  

Fast forward. I was happily married and had a gorgeous baby daughter.  I did my best during pregnancy:  I quit smoking and drinking, and planned for natural childbirth.  I was very fortunate when I went into labor.  It only lasted three and a half hours, and my baby girl was born healthy and happy.  I breast fed, and tried to be a good mom; don't let anyone tell you that's easy!!!  I had my healthy baby girl, so I started up the cigarettes again.  Cigarettes can help with weight loss, you know.  I took my daughter to the pediatrician for her regular check-ups.  She began having ear infections which were obviously quite painful, poor thing.  So, off to the pediatrician we went.  He said to me, "Does anyone in your family smoke?"  "I do," I admitted.  "Well," he said, "if you want your baby to continue to suffer like this, keep smoking."  Wow, harsh, and true.   That was the end of that.  After I quit, my daughter never had another ear infection.  My son, born three and a half years later, had not a single ear infection.

Love: it started and stopped my cigarettes.