Joe’s Story

Recovery Triumph: Cigarettes

I was 27 years old and sporting a three-pack-a-day habit when I realized I had the hacking cough of an elderly man with emphysema. I got spooked, and for several months I used sheer willpower to gradually cut back to two packs a day, then one pack a day. At just that time a friend came to visit from Denmark, bringing with him a carton of Prince cigarettes. At first I was dismayed by his gift, but then I realized I could use it as a last hurrah. Sure enough, with the last cigarette in that carton came my last puff. This past spring marks my 25th year of being free of cigarettes.

—Joe B., Boston, Massachusetts