Wonderful construction, Amy, around an unusual topic. Your vignettes about another time (when my Mom perused the Grocery Produce aisles with a Chesterfield hanging to her lower lip). But you wind up with a clear non-smoking message - presented in a telling way.
Your tone is consistently positive - not judgmental. But the judgment is clear with good reason at the end.
Amy, I'm so sorry about your dad. Any dip in air quality makes just breathing difficult.
Conversely, this trip down memory lane had me laughing out loud. I had forgotten about all of our relatives who smoked inside, and my own mother's subsequent behavior to open all the windows and doors to air it out. It's hilarious that you could walk down to casually buy their cigarettes back then, and so could any young teenager, too! What was everyone thinking?
I remember my grandpa would roll his own cigarettes. Every morning he would pour a cup of coffee, pour a bit on the saucer to cool a bit, then pull out his papers and tin. Take a paper out, sometimes give me one and I would put sugar on it to copy him. He would put the tobacco on the paper and roll it, lick, and twist the ends. Drink his coffee and step out on the porch and then light up. He never smoked in the house! He was a farmer and did grow tobacco as a crop. But that is a fond memory of my grandpa! My mom says he never smoked in the house. I don't recall him doing it frequently, like my aunts and uncles did. Mom and Dad had ashtrays in the house for company that would visit, like said aunts and uncles.
Love these stories, Amy, as they bring up my memories from my childhood and can peak into the life of my bestie!! I should write my mini memories down before I forget them! Keep on writing!! You could be the next Laura Ingalls Wilder!!😊
Both my parents smoked growing up and I remember those filled ash trays after a family party. I also remember a bottle of Pepsi that was left after one of those parties. Young me took a sip and it had an old cigarette discarded in it. Yuck! I never did that again!
I also laughed at you buying a cabbage instead of lettuce. I did the same for my mom. I was just talking about it the other day with my sister. I was five years old when my mom sent me to the store and I crossed a busy street to get there.
Back then the only lettuce we had in Madison grocery stores was iceberg which looks a lot like cabbage. Especially to a kid who wasn’t excited about them.
My parents and many other adults in my family smoked when I was growing up. I've never taken up the habit, and watched my parents in their later years struggling because of it. (I never realized how much I would have smelled like it too, until I worked at a school, and walking down the hallway where coats were hanging could pinpoint which kid's parents smoked.)
Years after my mom was gone, I picked up something she used to carry in her purse, and instantly smelled the unique combination of tobacco and wintergreen lifesavers that anything in her purse always smelled like.
Cigarettes always make me think of Aunt Oddy, and I laugh remembering 3yo Joe seeing a No Smoking Sign and saying, “Aunt Oddy wouldn’t like that!”
At Wrigley Field.
Wonderful construction, Amy, around an unusual topic. Your vignettes about another time (when my Mom perused the Grocery Produce aisles with a Chesterfield hanging to her lower lip). But you wind up with a clear non-smoking message - presented in a telling way.
Your tone is consistently positive - not judgmental. But the judgment is clear with good reason at the end.
Thanks Helen!
Amy, I'm so sorry about your dad. Any dip in air quality makes just breathing difficult.
Conversely, this trip down memory lane had me laughing out loud. I had forgotten about all of our relatives who smoked inside, and my own mother's subsequent behavior to open all the windows and doors to air it out. It's hilarious that you could walk down to casually buy their cigarettes back then, and so could any young teenager, too! What was everyone thinking?
I’m GLAD you laughed out loud! That makes my day!!!
I can so relate. Both of my parents smokes while I was growing
and I would be sent in to but my mothers Viceroy cigarettes. Interestingly, my two sisters and I never smoked. We got our share growing up.
I remember my grandpa would roll his own cigarettes. Every morning he would pour a cup of coffee, pour a bit on the saucer to cool a bit, then pull out his papers and tin. Take a paper out, sometimes give me one and I would put sugar on it to copy him. He would put the tobacco on the paper and roll it, lick, and twist the ends. Drink his coffee and step out on the porch and then light up. He never smoked in the house! He was a farmer and did grow tobacco as a crop. But that is a fond memory of my grandpa! My mom says he never smoked in the house. I don't recall him doing it frequently, like my aunts and uncles did. Mom and Dad had ashtrays in the house for company that would visit, like said aunts and uncles.
Love these stories, Amy, as they bring up my memories from my childhood and can peak into the life of my bestie!! I should write my mini memories down before I forget them! Keep on writing!! You could be the next Laura Ingalls Wilder!!😊
Thank you!
I do remember your parents were not smokers. But the rest of our neighborhood…
Both my parents smoked growing up and I remember those filled ash trays after a family party. I also remember a bottle of Pepsi that was left after one of those parties. Young me took a sip and it had an old cigarette discarded in it. Yuck! I never did that again!
I also laughed at you buying a cabbage instead of lettuce. I did the same for my mom. I was just talking about it the other day with my sister. I was five years old when my mom sent me to the store and I crossed a busy street to get there.
Back then the only lettuce we had in Madison grocery stores was iceberg which looks a lot like cabbage. Especially to a kid who wasn’t excited about them.
My parents and many other adults in my family smoked when I was growing up. I've never taken up the habit, and watched my parents in their later years struggling because of it. (I never realized how much I would have smelled like it too, until I worked at a school, and walking down the hallway where coats were hanging could pinpoint which kid's parents smoked.)
Years after my mom was gone, I picked up something she used to carry in her purse, and instantly smelled the unique combination of tobacco and wintergreen lifesavers that anything in her purse always smelled like.
Yes, the mints!!