Handing Down the Legacy – How Smoking Affected My Family’s Children and Grandchildren

We all know that smoking in front of your kids increases the likelihood of them picking up the habit. They see you model the behavior and figure that if you can smoke, so can they. I remember seeing my grandfather smoke for decades, and he lived to be 80. The connection I did not make with his smoking was that cancer was rampant in the household and the second hand smoke probably had something to do with it.

Before my grandfather passed on, my Mother and eventually I and my brother picked up the habit. My mother smoked for almost 30 years before quitting, so she also modeled the behavior to my brother and me. I started out hating the addiction. After I learned in school what it was doing to her lungs, I’d steal her cigarettes and throw them in the garbage. Later I became addicted to the very things I hated.

My brother and I quit before we had children, which I am extremely grateful. This legacy in our family has stopped with us. Our children never have to see their parents struggle with nicotine addiction. Maybe you are struggling and hate modeling this behavior. Don’t give up; coming to this site and others like it can help you stop smoking for good.