Blends Connected to Family and Memories

[DeaconPiper]

I spent my early childhood in Rochester, New York with my parents from Queens and Brentwood on Long Island. Moved around a bunch since high school, Alaska and India, Oregon and Washington State. Where are you from?

Got my parents visiting and tonight I’m remembering my father who always had a cigar or pipe at hand. He served in the Coast Guard a lot of years, and doesn’t smoke anymore. Lung issues from 50 years of woodworking. I inherited his pipes (literally, on both fronts).

It’s a joy listening to his stories about my grandparents coming over from Palermo and Naples. My grandfather‘s dying in the same house he purchased over 70 years ago (he’s 99). His name is Felice, - served in the Navy during World War II. Please say a small prayer for him, or a kind thought.

My grandfather taught me patience in all things. How to relax, and tell a story. Well, as summer closes and autumn arrives, I enjoy a bowl of HH Hold Dark Fired. Satisfying, leathery smoke. It reminds me of a bundle of parachutes he still has in the basement.

Sorry for the story, I’m just in a reflective mood watching the sun go down here in Central Washington. My favorite blend is War Horse Green, maybe it reminds me of the Anisette that passed around when visiting Grandpa.

Anyway. Do you have any stories, reflections connected to blends?

 

[dottlejockey]

My grandfather on my father's side used to always have a chewed up Swisher Sweet in his mouth whenever i'd visit as a kid. I always wondered how much he smoked and how much he just chewed his cigars!

My grandfather on my mother's side smoked Prince Albert in English make pipes (usually basket level). Enjoyed the smell of their house growing up and just being out in the woods with the chickens, goats and dogs.

My father chewed Days O Work plug after quitting cigarettes and so i got a few samples of that as a youngster and still keep a plug on hand at all times. Sometimes i chew it and remember him while driving somewhere with the wife.

Good times. Thanks for sharing!

 

[kcghost]

My dad was just a Navy guy and smoked cigarettes until he retired from the Navy. He immediately quit smoking. Cold turkey is a beautiful thing. He was 40 and lived until he was 74. My mother, unfortunately, died of an asthma attack when I was eleven. Didn't learn much from Dad as he was trying to mold me into presidential material. Christ, what a mess that was.

 

[huntertrw]

My paternal grandfather smoked both Half and Half and Prince Albert in his billiard briars and Falcons, and even today the aroma of the (original) former always brings him to mind.

 

[OzPiper]

Both my parents were cigarette smokers.
They both quit after Dad’s heart attack in 1985

There is a photo of my younger brother (aged @ 5yo) with a pipe stuck jauntily in his gob
But I have NO recollection of my father ever smoking a pipe. Who knows where that pipe came from ?
Dad has quite bad dementia now, so we will never know.

My (paternal) grandfather smoked cigarettes occasionally. I used to run to the store to get them for him - 1 or 2 sticks at a time. Rarely a box of 10.
Back then you could buy individual sticks out of a can of 50.
He always gave me enough change to buy myself a treat.

 

[edger]

A coal fire in the hearth and a room full of Condor smoke reminds me of my Ulster maternal grandfather. Even though he was “a thinking man”, he usually smoked a beat up clogged Falcon with a blasted billiard bowl. So many fond memories……

 

[bullet08]

Ah! Family tobacco. Only problem is, I'm Korean. Grew up in S. Korea till 1980. Every men smoked cigarettes. If you were a man and didn't smoke or drink, you were looked at with huge amount of distrust. Some women smoked. But mostly in private. My father's side women didn't smoke. On my mother's side all men and women smoked. Very headstrong women in that family. All educated overseas, US and Japan. Didn't like that family much. Snobs. Diplomates, professors, military.. High society. Not a very trustworthy. Father's side was hard-working folks. Grandfather owned junkyard. Eldest uncle was police auditor, meaning he was a god. More story on him when I'm drunk. 2nd eldest was band leader (gangster). He was respected. Then elder aunt. 3rd eldest uncle a doctor. Then my father. And younger aunt. All men smoked. The men were well known as very tight group. I mean, my father smoked indoors all the time. When I was a kid, that's all I wanted to do. By 12, I was smoking. I remember during my father's funeral service, they were showing pictures of his younger days. Every single one of the picture had him smoking.