Mr. Ladybug calls it quits

We were both smokers when we met and continued to smoke together throughout the years. We huddled up in front of a heater or a grill in the wintertime and sweat together in the summer time. For richer and poorer, through cold and heat-we were were a smoking team…and then I quit.

It came out of nowhere. I put one out and never lit another cigarette again. February 3rd, 2014, that’s when my husband lost his smoking buddy.

I asked him once or twice if he would consider quitting in the future, he always shook his head. “I will smoke until the day I die,” he said and I accepted it. Just because I changed my mind about something, doesn’t mean he has to do the same thing.

I married a smoker, why would I try to change him now. It’s his call, not mine. Believe it or not, even our dogs react to the word  “smoke,” they know it means a trip to the outside word and they are all for it. “Let’s go outside”  means front door, “Let’s smoke” means back door. I am probably the only ex-smoker who still says LET’S SMOKE on a daily base. I find it highly amusing.

Five days ago my husband came home in the evening and showed me his cigarette pack. “I haven’t smoked all day long,” he said and I stood there with my mouth wide open. “You quit?” I asked.

“I am not ready to say that I quit, but I am taking a smoking break…indefinitely.”

“Poor me, he will be a pain in the tuchus,” I thought, but then I stopped myself. I am not going to step into the same trap like so many, that’s make-believe. People don’t have to react badly when they give up smoking. I was a cheerful little bugger throughout my quit -no casualties were reported during the first weeks and months.

Quitting was so easy for me. Sometimes I think I didn’t really quit but outgrew smoking -if that makes any sense at all.

“So, what made you think about an indefinite smoke break?” I asked him.

“I will be 58 soon,” he said, “I started smoking when I was 12. I was laying in bed at night and thought about it, then I decided not to wait until my birthday but quit right away.

He didn’t tell me about his plans, because there was no plan. He quit the same way I did. Out of the blue, without a big announcement and without any silly aids that the tobacco industry has to offer. He is taking his cigarettes with him, like he always has, he just doesn’t touch them. I understand that better than anybody. I had my last unopened cigarette pack in the freezer for about 4 month, before I got rid of it.

I looks like his mind is made up, Mr. Ladybug is going to quit smoking after 46 years. I will keep track of his journey and will celebrate all his milestones. I am very happy for him -for both of us. The old chalkboard in the kitchen reads DAY #5 and it makes me smile. Maybe his quit will be easy as well, because I showed him it can be.

Now I just have to explain it all to our dogs. 🙂