Thank you

I am approaching the one week mark since I last smoked a cigarette. Yet as I write this, I find myself still wanting to smoke a cigarette. It is not the physical nicotine withdrawal that causes this since that phase is over with. My blood system eliminated all the nicotine within my body within 72 hours. The brain takes its own sweet time washing cigarettes from its memory.

I have been thinking about why and how I quit smoking. If I did not love V, I would never have attempted to quit the way I did last week. It was more of a wild whim than anything thought through, such as gradually cutting down so the withdrawal would not be as severe as it has been. I am convinced I could not have kept with it during the worst part if V had not been with me when I woke the past five mornings. I also dreaded meeting her in the evenings and having to tell her that I had smoked during the day. Yes, I could not have made it this far without V; in fact, I would not have tried.

In the short amount of time I have known V, she has given me much that adds new meaning to my life. I hope she knows that my quitting smoking this past week is a gift I give to her as much as I give to myself. It has been a way for me to say thank you to her. These days, I would give anything for her love.