Vickie Quit Smoking One Year Ago

"The first day seemed 100 hours long..."

One year ago, a few minutes before midnight, I sat on the step in my garage puffing away on what would be my last cigarette ever. With sheer determination and the help of Wellbutrin and this forum, my journey began. I had tried this before, but never made it past day three. This time I was going to make it work.

The first day seemed 100 hours long. I drank water, I posted and read here, I chewed on cinnamon sticks...anything to keep the old nicodemon away. To my amazement, when the clock struck midnight again, I was still smoke free. The rest of week one went by in kind of a fog, but still with no cigarettes. I almost lived in front of the computer that first week.

The next week I went through my first crisis without smoking. My next door neighbor's son committed suicide. He was a wonderful young man who had grown up with my kids. His parents are very good friends and his loss was very painful. But, guess what...I made it without a cigarette. Before I knew it, I had made it to the one month mark.

Soon it was early spring, and the first few warm days proved to be quite a trigger. Things I would have never thought triggered the urge to smoke...washing windows, sitting on the swing in the back yard, etc. And then it was time for our annual trek to the Outer Banks. I was actually afraid to go because some of the best cigarettes (if there is such a thing) I had ever had were on the deck looking out at the Atlantic with coffee in hand. I not only went, but found that I could enjoy the beach without smoking.

Summer brought two more trips and the more time that passed, the less I thought about smoking. I no longer jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped for a smoke. I was much more relaxed while traveling. I was really doing it, I was a non-smoker.

Fall came with the falling leaves and Halloween. To my surprise, I was still not smoking and not even wanting to. Once in a while a fleeting urge would come over me, but it became easier and easier to resist.

The holidays arrived. I prepared Thanksgiving dinner for my extended family and didn't have to stop cooking and sneak out to the garage for a few quick puffs. Christmas and New Years also passed and I kept practicing N.O.P.E. 2006 brought the "after the holidays" let down and I still kept going.

And that brings me to today..........................the best day in my "new life" so far. I have survived every season, I'm ready to begin year 2 and I'm very thankful to have found all of you. You are a huge part of the reason that I have arrived at the one year mark...................THANK YOU!