St. Paul University Catholic Center: Who We Are

This video on You Tube is about a Roman Catholic parish on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Here is the link to the website for this parish.

I'll Smoke Tomorrow -- with apologies to Susan Hayward (as Lillian Roth) and Vivien Leigh (as Scarlett O'Hara)

Smoke Screen

I started smoking in 1958, when I was ten. It was an experiment. I wanted to pretend to be beautiful and glamorous, like my mom.

(I don't know. Maybe she was also pretending?)

Also, like those guests on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

I used to buy cigarettes for her at the grocery store, back when they cost a dime. That was 1953. I was five. I had to reach up above my head to place the dime on the counter.

Sometimes the shopkeeper couldn't see me until I put the dime there, because my head didn't clear the counter top.

By the time I was twelve, smoking was a full-fledged addiction for me --- a pack or two each day.

I never smoked in front of my stepdad, but he knew I smoked and never said anything about it. That restraint probably helped my health a little.

It was by the grace of God --- and some diligent pestering by my kids, especially led by the oldest (I'll call him Freddie) ---- that I had my last cigarette in the summer of 1982.

Never had a craving.

Never had another cigarette.

Never really felt better, or worse, or any different at all.

Just glad to be rid of the expense and annoyance. Glad to be alive and breathing.

How that Did Happen?

I will save the details for another post. 

Or perhaps an entire book? It's a long story.

Or, perhaps not? The essence of it all is this:

I had an entire full pack of Pall Malls --- my mom's, and my, favorite --- sitting there on a bookshelf.

There were nineteen cigarettes left in the pack because I had taken one drag off one cigarette the day before. At the time, I just thought maybe I'll finish this later, or tomorrow.

So, I saved the very long butt, just in case.

The next day that long butt was still sitting there on that shelf, beside that nearly-full pack.

I lighted it. I took a drag. I was looking forward to finishing that cigarette, as I had not had a smoke for 24 hours.

But, then, another part of me thought, "Wow, that is so disgusting."

I had an epiphany. I got in touch with my "inner non-smoker." I guess that is the only way I can describe it.

Back, then, a pack of cigarettes had not yet broken the "$1-a-pack barrier," which lots of smokers and non-smokers were talking about.

''We're about to break the $1-a-pack barrier,'' said Roy D. Burry, vice president and analyst at Kidder Peabody. That milestone will probably come in mid-1983 . . ."

Seems quaintly old-fashioned now, right?

Rest in Peace, Dear Mummy

Today is July 4, 2015.

My dear mom would be looking forward to celebrating her eighty-eighth birthday this November. She was born in 1927.

She died of lung cancer in March of 2012.

She was not even 85 yet. 

Links

Here are some links answering to the call, "Smoking Cessation:"

I especially like this one. It's very short, helpful and authoritative.

Wikipedia page entitled, "Smoking Cessation," is worth a look-see. You never know when you might get a new idea you had never thought of before.

This page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is mostly filled with information you already know. But, a reminder can't hurt. And, just might hit you right between the eyes for a reason you don't even understand.

(Smoking is primal and subliminal. For some Native American folks, tobacco has always been a sacred crop. Even now, we cannot help but realize its power.)

This page is an advertisement from Glaxo-Smith-Kline, the makers of Nicorette and NicoDerm CQ, so take it with a grain of salt. But, take what you can out of it. I don't think anything is wrong with trying their products, really. But, there are many other ways to go and things to try.

Don't be intimidated.

Just sayin' :-)