By Sue Staton

Smoking is one horrible addiction to have. I am praying I can reach even one person to quit smoking from my column this week.

First of all, young people, please do not smoke! It is not cool to see a cigarette dangling from anyone’s mouth.

What on earth does it take to get you to realize smoking and tobacco products can cause deadly disease?

As I mentioned before, I sat and watched my own father die with emphysema. Even in a semi-coma he was reaching for a cigarette and lighter to attempt to smoke. It was heart-breaking to me and not a pretty sight.

As a child, I couldn’t understand why I was the one always getting carsick until as an adult, I realized it was from daddy’s cigarettes in an enclosed vehicle. I can still feel nauseous when I think about it.

I also learned I have asthma. I am so allergic to one I can smell someone in a store who is a cigarette addict. If they only knew how they smell, but they are immune to the odor, I guess. The stench is nasty. It causes someone with allergies to get stopped up or begin coughing.

I have often thought if kids could tell their mom and dad how much it affects their body, they may drop the habit sooner. However, that usually does not show up for them until later in life.

It seems that television ads do help a little, but the message is still not across.

This Dec. 31, I prayed to God to intervene in my husband Eric’s life to get him to stop smoking. Oh, how he answered that prayer. Eric no longer smoked in the car or inside our house, but I noticed he was getting heavier and heavier in to his smoking.

I also knew we could not afford him to smoke since it is so costly and does take away from your family.

God answered my prayer through Dr. Anthony Rogers, who finally got through to Eric. Dr. Rogers laid his life on the line for him with no uncertain terms. Eric’s smoking, if not quit immediately, could result in losing both his legs. Enough said!

This past week, one surgery took place for Eric and there are two more surgeries in the near future. God and Dr. Rogers did what I or television ads could not do.

As far as I know or can smell, Eric has not had a cigarette in about a month now.

Please wake up smokers! Quit before it causes something drastic with your health to take place. It is a nasty habit and it is a life-taker.

Those who smoke only think of that next cigarette and often gett angry if anything is keeping them from smoking. They take more breaks on a job than anyone else. They rush others up in life so they can get to their selfish habit.

I have watched as pregnant women smoke even though they have a child in their stomach whose life could have health problems from their smoking. It seems that children who grow up with watching mommy and daddy smoke, they, too, will begin the nasty habit.

For me, it was the opposite. I have to admit, my mom made me and my sister think if we started smoking as a young lady it would make us look like trash. Funny, but it stuck for me and I never wanted to smoke.

Seeing a woman smoke still bothers me more than seeing a man smoke.

If I have offended you, I am writing this because I care and feel the need to reach someone, anyone, who smokes.

You do not just hurt yourself but the world around you when you smoke. Yes, you are hurting someone else.

Besides that, if your own family has begged and pleaded to you maybe someone else might reach you.

It might even be God.

Sue Staton is a Clark County native who grew up in the Kiddville area. She is a wife, mother and grandmother who is active in her church, First United Methodist Church, and her homemakers group, Towne and Country Homemakers.