The Cold Turkey Patch

Walker Jackson / All rights reserved

Are you tired of your home, clothes, and car smelling like tobacco road? Are you tired of burning holes in the family room sofa, the car seats, your clothes and other things? Are you tired of burning up money that could be used more wisely? Are you tired of coughing your guts out every time you light one of those filthy things? Are you exasperated with your many failed attempts to quit smoking? Sure you are. Cheer up. Walker Joe has a success story that's going to give you the inspiration to quit forever.

This message could not have come at a better time. Shortly, cigarettes will cost $4.00 a pack in light of the recent judgements against the tobacco companies. For a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker, that's $180 each month. Think of all the goodies that'll buy.

Walker Joe suggests 'The Cold Turkey Patch'. It works and it's affordable. All you have to do is say no! Each time you deny the nicotine demon the easier it gets. He knows because he did it four times. During the first week, stay away from the pitfalls like drinking and other smokers. Tell everyone you're quitting and ask them to refrain even if you beg for one. Chew gum. Pretend to smoke. Start riding a bike or walking. Fresh air is an excellent deterrent. As the days go by, keep reminding yourself of the reasons why you are quitting - positive reinforcement - and the immense rewards to be gained. Feel the pride and confidence build as denial becomes easier and easier. And, never put another stinking cigarette between your lips.

Walker Joe, now 74, kicked the habit 38 years ago. He went through hell four times. No one knows any better how tough quitting is. It was, however, the kindest gift he ever gave himself. He's certain he'd be dead by now, if he hadn't succeeded. Instead, he's playing single's tennis at a 4.0 level when he's in the zone. Readers give that some thought.

Walker Joe started killing himself at the tender age of twelve. His brand was Camels. Remember! "I'd walk a mile for a Camel." He only had to walk to his Father's room where several cartons were stashed. His dad's cigarettes were free for the taking. If he'd had to buy them, he probably would've never started in the first place. He's a skinflint.

So round, so firm, so fully packed, so free and easy on the draw? If you guessed Dolly you're dead wrong. Lucky Strike is the answer. And there were Old Golds, Phillip Morris and Chesterfields. Do you remember, "Call-for-Phillip-Mor-risss?"

When money was scarce, he rolled 'em. That was often. Prince Albert made a very tasty smoke, but he found rolling a Bull Durham nearly impossible. Marijuana was not available around Vidalia High School in 1943. The times were different.

Filter cigarettes?. . . no way . . . everyone was fat, dumb and happy. Cancer was almost not invented in 1943. However, during World War II the only brand available was Viceroys, a filter cigarette costing sixteen cents a pack. They smelled and tasted like a burning rope. The name brands went overseas to our brave GIs. If they escaped the enemy, the cigarettes would get them in the end. So, during World War Two, civilians smoked anything available. "You just got to have another cigarette."

In June 1944, a chest x-ray showed shadows on his lungs. Estelle, his mother, convinced him the shadows could be tuberculosis, and he might die. This frightened Walker Joe and he kicked the habit: cold turkey. He always had a truer perspective of mortality than his peers. Incidentally, smoking stunted Walker Joe's growth and he acquired the nickname of Junior. The summer he quit he grew five inches and gained fifty pounds. The next school year he made the first string football team. And they quit calling him Junior. The best gain was that the girls started liking him.

He didn't smoke again until September 1948 when he went to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. The big city offered temptation galore for an adventurous country boy, and he acquired several additional bad habits and started smoking again. His tenure at Tech was short, and he joined the U. S. Air Force on March 10, 1949.

Walker Joe Quits For Good