having been a smoker his entire life, is unusual? What's far more usual is the shortened life span, the heart disease, the shortness of breath, the early deaths, of smokers.
I'm incredibly grateful that smoking is outlawed in many public places. I'm old enough to recall people smoking in grocery stores, in hospitals, essentially everywhere. Both of my parents smoked, and in my young adulthood "everyone" smoked, and so the odor of cigarettes was common and accepted. I'm one of six children, and I'm the only one who not only didn't ever smoke but also didn't have a spouse who was a smoker, and is it sheer coincidence that I'm by far the healthiest? I was recently at a milestone class reunion (a fiftieth) and it was stunningly clear who were the smokers and who'd never smoked. Not to mention the smokers who'd passed on in recent years. Heck, if I were to design an anti-smoking campaign I'd include at least one ad that takes place at a 50th high school reunion. Not only would you get to see the glaringly obvious differences between the smokers and the never smokers, but the list of those who'd died and their smoking history would be clear evidence of why no one should smoke.
I have a sister, only 18 months older than me. She started smoking at age thirteen. A while back, the subject of how old she and I were came up in the presence of my nieces -- the daughters of our youngest sister. They were completely unbelieving that we were so close in age. Again, the difference between a life long smoker and a life long non smoker.
On the other hand, I suppose I can thank all the smokers for contributing to my Social Security into the distant future. I do have plans to live to my 97th birthday (a solar eclipse I'm planning to see), and I will need all the financial help I can get.
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