0a3905d5_e_Smoker_s_Memorial___Page_Two__Our_Memorial_Remembrance
[#] 14 [Date] 03/15/06 [Our Memorial Remembrance] 
I just wanted to remember both my mother and father. My mom and dad smoked what seems like their whole lives. I can't remember them ever without a cigarette. My mom was always unhealthy, probably lots to do with smoking. But she always told everyone she was fine. There came a time when we all thought she had another stroke. Come to find out she had lung cancer and never told any of us. No insurance and we were at a loss as no one would help. I took care of her in her last 6 months of life and it was horrible. She lost everything: her weight, her strength, and her ability to remember anything. I often heard stories she would tell from her childhood. The cancer had left her with no short term memory, as if she were still a child. In the end she also lost what was left of her dignity, I'm sure. She went into a coma. The cancer had consumed 3/4 of her brain. There were machines, lots of machine and all asking me, "do you want her to live like that." And when I made the decision to let her go I was called cruel. But I know my mother wouldn't have wanted to go on that way. She passed away when she was just 52 years old. She was the best woman I've ever known, caring, fun and good to everyone she had ever met. I remember the agony she was in and still wish I could have spared her some of the pain. My father was a funny man. I loved to hear the stories of when he was young and in the navy. My dad could sing and limbo. He wasn't around too much after my parents were divorced but he was still my dad, my hero. We thought he would live forever. Then he was diagnosed with emphysema. He always played off the illness like it was nothing. Always a joke or two. And yes he still smoked even with the oxygen. He lived in another state and would never really tell us how he was. In the end he died from the emphysema. He had fallen asleep with a cigarette which started to burn the bed. He awoke and caught it before it ignited and went to nap on the couch. But his emphysema had weakened his lungs so much that just the fumes from the bed ended his life. He was 63. I miss my parents terribly and this is the reason for my quitting. Also I never want my children to have to go through what I went through. My parents were the best people ever and I so wish they were here so I could hug them and tell them I love them, or just to look upon their faces. I miss them so much. Deborah
The Smoker's Memorial - Page Two
Our Memorial Remembrance