I miss that cigarette

Now it seems that everybody is against smoking, including my cardiologist. When I told him that I suffered from sharp pains in my chest, he said "That's because of your smoking... Can you stop?" I told him that I smoked only one or two, sometimes three cigarettes a day." And how many is that in a year's time?" I mentally calculated: 365 or 730 or 1,095? Ouch, imagine, I have been smoking for more than 30 years. No wonder I had sharp pains in my chest. That day, I decided to quit smoking. It was easy.

If there are bathroom singers, I was a bathroom smoker.

I began smoking more than 30 years ago when I told my husband that I had problems in the bathroom. He suggested that I take up smoking. I did, and -- big miracle -- since then, I had no more problems in the bathroom. I did not have to finish one cigarette, only one or two puffs diminished my problem. Hurray... but I continued to smoke until the end of the cigarette. I felt relaxed.

Years later I began smoking two cigarettes each morning. While sitting there in the bathroom and puffing on cigarettes, I was thinking of many things, inter alia, of the things I had to do that day; a friend's invitation next week and what to do about it, accept or not? What to wear, my article which was rejected or printed, etc.

Years later, I began to smoke three cigarettes a day. I enjoyed them and every morning I sat longer in the bathroom. My husband warned me about my new habit. But... it was a nice habit.

When the sharp pains warned me of my deteriorating health, and my doctor suggested that I stop smoking, I asked myself, "What is good about cigarette smoking when it makes me sick?" I've had two heart attacks already. It is true that sometimes I miss that cigarette, but I still want to live and enjoy my family and friends. Enjoy the good life, especially when God sent me a beautiful gift, my grandson.

I quit smoking -- it was easy -- and no more problems in the bathroom.

SARASWATI KARNO BARKAH

Jakarta