My mother celebrated 33 years of not smoking yesterday. Well, that's not
quite right. I celebrated, as she doesn't remember. Let me tell you a bit
about her. She was born in 1916. In childhood she had rheumatic fever,
which
later in life affected her heart. When I was 3, in 1956, she had
pioneering
heart surgery to open the mitral valve. A smoker, she was told by the
doctors to keep smoking as this was better for her than putting on weight!
In 1975, two days after my father's birthday, she decided to quit smoking.
My father continued to smoke, and died of COPD some 8 years later.
Now aged 92, her medical notes read like a medical encyclopaedia, but
she's
still living independently. A year ago she fell and smashed her hip.
Nobody
thought she would survive the anaesthetic for the hip replacement surgery,
but she's now even walking without a stick. She can't remember where she's
walking to, because her short term memory is shot, but that doesn't
matter.
I reminded her of the anniversary when I called her today. I told her a
bit
about AS3 and she told me to tell you all to keep up the good work. I'm
really proud of my mum, and if anyone is proof that it's never too late to
quit, she is it.
Thanks for listening,
Steve S (another one)
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