This is my facebook post commemorating one year of survival after the BIG EVENT…

 

Hello facebookians,

Today marks my one year anniversary being smoke free. I never thought I’d see this day, let alone be kinda happy about it. True, I still want a cigarette, but I have to admit the craving has lessened somewhat (okay, a LOT!), but I still want a smoke and I’ve been told that I probably will for the rest of my days…

Speaking of which, tomorrow morning at 3 a.m. marks the first year of what I have come to think of as my living on borrowed time, since if I wouldn’t have taken  it seriously, I would not be around to type this.

You can call it a new lease on life or any number of other monikers that can be attributed to this phenomenon, but I call it my “It’s Better than Being Dead” philosophy. The discomfort I still feel from not having a smoke? It’s better than being dead! The fact that I seem to have developed this nasal twang to my once deep and booming voice because I used to smoke KOOLs (as we used to say in my troubled youth growing up in Detroit, “Smoke KOOL be cool, Jack!”), the menthol would clear up my sinuses and allow me to breathe better—ironic, ain’t it? Even my Ear, Nose and Throat doc agrees. Come to find out I have a badly deviated septum and it can be fixed with surgery, but hey, it’s better than—well, you get the idea. After all, those of you that have been paying attention (and Boy Howdy! I THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!)  know that’s how I have survived, and let’s face it, THRIVED, since the big event a year ago.

Eating better? Oh, hell yeah! I’ve even been exercising! A lot! Averaging 4 times a week, and some weeks even more! There’s something I never thought I would ever say, but yes, it’s true. I feel healthier living on borrowed time than I have in my entire existence on this mortal coil. My latest tactic is to find a “good reason” not to go to the gym. I do a reality check and if I can’t find a good reason not to go, I have to go. Like tonight f’rinstance, I tried like heck to think of a good enough reason not to go, but darned if I could find one, so I went. Truth to tell, I’m glad, too. THERE’s something I never thought I’d say, either!

So, a few months ago my doctor told me that I was doing so well that he wants to put my picture in a frame at the end of the hallway at the rehab facility (that I call my gym) as an example for all to see what a model patient looks like. Now he hasn’t really done that, nor do I expect him to, but gosh darn it, it sure makes me feel good, and that’s one of the things that keeps me smoke free and going to the gym, eating right, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (to quote Yul Brynner in “The King and I”)…

Here we are one year later. I’m still standing (to quote Sir Elton John) and doing pretty darn well.

Let’s get maudlin, shall we? Awhile back, my beloved K8T posted something in facebook about how if her Dad could quit smoking, so could anybody! I gotta tellya, that made all weepy (and still does), knowing that my little girl is using me as an example for her friends. I LOVE being a good example. That’s like, the coolest thing about being a parent, right?

So there you go, my one year anniversary, living on borrowed time. It’s been tough, but hey, IT’S BETTER THAN BEING DEAD!

Thanks for caring, facebookians. I really do appreciate it.

Your Pal,

Chuck