Gingerjewgirl, 32

Upon my little sister's profound life-changing illness in 2002, she and I were enabled by our parents and especially grandmother to develop just ONE little pet vice as a coping tool. Ok, a coping tool for HER, but big sis just had to help and we both wound up as enabled smokers at an early age. She may be even worse now than me, but it's certainly proven true that when cigarettes become a staple nearly as long ago as one remembers, the identity as a smoker becomes almost a romance in itself. I LOVE my cigarettes and this is not going to change in a million years. Every time I have ever toyed with my identity or my passions to conform to the wants of a NON-smoker has invariably proven a social catastrophe. I'm perfectly contented to die an old maid if I have to, rather than to try to be passionate with any other partner than one who understands and accepts that I will always be a heavy smoker first, and everything else second.