les and "crows feet' all over the place, and when I smile, I have all these gouges all over my face! And, you're 50 years old, and you have NO wrinkles on your face whatsoever...no 'crows feet' NOTHING! And, that's why I hate you."

I've been hated by many people in my lifetime, but never for not having wrinkles on my face, so this was all new to me! I knew Sabrina was only kidding, and I told her that I thought that being a heavy smoker for over 15 years, contributed to the wrinkles on her face

I quit smoking over 35 years ago, and I have never touched a cigarette since that time. There are millions of American's who struggle to finally quit smoking, only to start up again a few years later... which is a shame! Why would a person do this? Why would a person want to go back to putting poison back in his or her body? I've known a couple of people who have done this, and I think is a sign of weakness! If a person quits smoking, they need to have a "mental toughness," when they quit and the years following.

I have not written this piece, because I am a crusader or an activist for quitting smoking. If a person wants to smoke...go ahead...it's your right! But, my personal feeling is that I have zero tolerance for smoking and smokers! I don't like smokers around me, and they can do their damage someplace else! Smokers know the risks of smoking, and if they get ill or die from smoking, it's their own fault!

Here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this is where I-40 (Route 66) and I-25 (Pan American Freeway) come together, and it's called the "Big I." With over 500,000 population in the metro area, and as you might imagine, it's a very busy place for traffic. About a mile north of the Big I, is an electric sign that was put up, and shows the number of deaths from smoking all year long from across the country. The numbers on the sign are large and flash on and off, and can be viewed easily from a distance. At the beginning of the year, the sign shows zero deaths from smoking, and it updated every hour, and at the end of the year, it shows about 220,000 to 250,000 smoking deaths, which is astonishing to me!

* * *

Many years ago, a fellow employee, named Sabrina, and I worked at the same company. One day, we were out on the patio taking a break when she said to me, "Jerry, I hate you!" It didn't take me long to do a double-take when she said that, and I asked her why she hated me! She said, "I'm 38 years old, and my face looks like a dry river bed, with wrinkles and "crows feet' all over the place, and when I smile, I have all these gouges all over my face! And, you're 50 years old, and you have NO wrinkles on your face whatsoever...no 'crows feet' NOTHING! And, that's why I hate you."

I've been hated by many people in my lifetime, but never for not having wrinkles on my face, so this was all new to me! I knew Sabrina was only kidding, and I told her that I thought that being a heavy smoker for over 15 years, contributed to the wrinkles on her face

rs following.

I have not written this piece, because I am a crusader or an activist for quitting smoking. If a person wants to smoke...go ahead...it's your right! But, my personal feeling is that I have zero tolerance for smoking and smokers! I don't like smokers around me, and they can do their damage someplace else! Smokers know the risks of smoking, and if they get ill or die from smoking, it's their own fault!

Here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this is where I-40 (Route 66) and I-25 (Pan American Freeway) come together, and it's called the "Big I." With over 500,000 population in the metro area, and as you might imagine, it's a very busy place for traffic. About a mile north of the Big I, is an electric sign that was put up, and shows the number of deaths from smoking all year long from across the country. The numbers on the sign are large and flash on and off, and can be viewed easily from a distance. At the beginning of the year, the sign shows zero deaths from smoking, and it updated every hour, and at the end of the year, it shows about 220,000 to 250,000 smoking deaths, which is astonishing to me!

* * *

Many years ago, a fellow employee, named Sabrina, and I worked at the same company. One day, we were out on the patio taking a break when she said to me, "Jerry, I hate you!" It didn't take me long to do a double-take when she said that, and I asked her why she hated me! She said, "I'm 38 years old, and my face looks like a dry river bed, with wrinkles and "crows feet' all over the place, and when I smile, I have all these gouges all over my face! And, you're 50 years old, and you have NO wrinkles on your face whatsoever...no 'crows feet' NOTHING! And, that's why I hate you."

I've been hated by many people in my lifetime, but never for not having wrinkles on my face, so this was all new to me! I knew Sabrina was only kidding, and I told her that I thought that being a heavy smoker for over 15 years, contributed to the wrinkles on her face

American Freeway) come together, and it's called the "Big I." With over 500,000 population in the metro area, and as you might imagine, it's a very busy place for traffic. About a mile north of the Big I, is an electric sign that was put up, and shows the number of deaths from smoking all year long from across the country. The numbers on the sign are large and flash on and off, and can be viewed easily from a distance. At the beginning of the year, the sign shows zero deaths from smoking, and it updated every hour, and at the end of the year, it shows about 220,000 to 250,000 smoking deaths, which is astonishing to me!

* * *

Many years ago, a fellow employee, named Sabrina, and I worked at the same company. One day, we were out on the patio taking a break when she said to me, "Jerry, I hate you!" It didn't take me long to do a double-take when she said that, and I asked her why she hated me! She said, "I'm 38 years old, and my face looks like a dry river bed, with wrinkles and "crows feet' all over the place, and when I smile, I have all these gouges all over my face! And, you're 50 years old, and you have NO wrinkles on your face whatsoever...no 'crows feet' NOTHING! And, that's why I hate you."

I've been hated by many people in my lifetime, but never for not having wrinkles on my face, so this was all new to me! I knew Sabrina was only kidding, and I told her that I thought that being a heavy smoker for over 15 years, contributed to the wrinkles on her face

ed every hour, and at the end of the year, it shows about 220,000 to 250,000 smoking deaths, which is astonishing to me!

* * *

Many years ago, a fellow employee, named Sabrina, and I worked at the same company. One day, we were out on the patio taking a break when she said to me, "Jerry, I hate you!" It didn't take me long to do a double-take when she said that, and I asked her why she hated me! She said, "I'm 38 years old, and my face looks like a dry river bed, with wrinkles and "crows feet' all over the place, and when I smile, I have all these gouges all over my face! And, you're 50 years old, and you have NO wrinkles on your face whatsoever...no 'crows feet' NOTHING! And, that's why I hate you."

I've been hated by many people in my lifetime, but never for not having wrinkles on my face, so this was all new to me! I knew Sabrina was only kidding, and I told her that I thought that being a heavy smoker for over 15 years, contributed to the wrinkles on her face

les and "crows feet' all over the place, and when I smile, I have all these gouges all over my face! And, you're 50 years old, and you have NO wrinkles on your face whatsoever...no 'crows feet' NOTHING! And, that's why I hate you."

I've been hated by many people in my lifetime, but never for not having wrinkles on my face, so this was all new to me! I knew Sabrina was only kidding, and I told her that I thought that being a heavy smoker for over 15 years, contributed to the wrinkles on her face and her appearance in general. I'm not a doctor, but we all know that smoking affects the inner body, as well as the outer body as well.

But, as far as age is concerned, people usually guess me to be about 5-10 years younger than I am. And, I think that's because I don't smoke and quit over 35 years ago. I jog 15 miles every week since 1986, and lost 40 pounds in 2001! But, I don't do these things to look younger, I DO THEM TO STAY HEALTHY! I've seen people my age, who are drinking, drugging and smoking all the time, and they look ten years OLDER than they are! Some people don't have any pride in how they look!

Sabrina quit smoking before I met her, and after 15 years of heavy smoking, her body has taken a first-class beating...it's that simple! A person doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out! Sabrina and I were just acquaintances at work, and we did not date or hang around together. But, she was such a caring person. I was going through a lot back then, and she was there for me everyday. About a year after we met, the company closed and everybody went their own way, and I never saw Sabrina again. But, when we parted our ways, I missed her, because she was so good to me.

* * *

My parents got divorced after 48 years of marriage...my mother was 66 years old and my father was 72 years old. My father helped to produce ten kids and he didn't care about any of us! And, us kids hated him because he was sinister and evil. One day, my mother called me and told me that my father had died, and my response was, "Who cares!" (That's how evil he was!) She told my that his name was in the obituary section of the newspaper but I really didn't care!

But, what was it that drove me to look at the newspaper at someone I never cared about, and neither did my other brothers and sisters? I went to the newspaper, and I saw his name, and read the short piece somebody wrote that was filled with lies! And, something told me to scan down the page...