Dad sat me down with my two brothers, in '76 or '77, and said, "Boys, I'm going to stop smoking because I want to set a better example for you." He stopped that day and never smoked again.
Having started smoking only this year at the age of 57, I had questions for Dad. I asked whether his Primitive Baptist upbringing caused him to believe his habit was sinful, and was surprised to hear him say that the PB's didn't pay particular attention to tobacco or alcohol usage. If you know anything about PB theology, you may understand why I shouldn't have been surprised. But he said he was simply concerned about his health after smoking so many years, and didn't want us to do as he'd done.
I asked, "Well, at what age did you start smoking?"
He said, "I remember that as a little boy I was picking up butts and smoking them."
"But when did you start smoking in earnest?"
He said, "Well, we smoked on the bus, on the way to school."
"You mean elementary school?" I was a bit incredulous.
"Oh sure. I was just a little boy, smoking every day."
Our parents were born into a world so different, it might as well have been another planet.
I wish I could sit and smoke with Dad, as I do with my sons, but I understand his decision so many years ago to put down his pipe. It's a blessing just to have him still on this side of eternity, and to anticipate smoking together on the other.
Having started smoking only this year at the age of 57, I had questions for Dad. I asked whether his Primitive Baptist upbringing caused him to believe his habit was sinful, and was surprised to hear him say that the PB's didn't pay particular attention to tobacco or alcohol usage. If you know anything about PB theology, you may understand why I shouldn't have been surprised. But he said he was simply concerned about his health after smoking so many years, and didn't want us to do as he'd done.
I asked, "Well, at what age did you start smoking?"
He said, "I remember that as a little boy I was picking up butts and smoking them."
"But when did you start smoking in earnest?"
He said, "Well, we smoked on the bus, on the way to school."
"You mean elementary school?" I was a bit incredulous.
"Oh sure. I was just a little boy, smoking every day."
Our parents were born into a world so different, it might as well have been another planet.
I wish I could sit and smoke with Dad, as I do with my sons, but I understand his decision so many years ago to put down his pipe. It's a blessing just to have him still on this side of eternity, and to anticipate smoking together on the other.
