A Wake Up Call...

My Friend Steven over in South Africa has a blog which is one of those I read regularly. The usual pattern is that I'll stop by every day and he'll have written nothing new and then one day you go in and there's a post which is huge and full of news or views on something. As I said earlier, I've been off the Blogs for a while and last night I had a wee catch up.

Wake Up Call Part 1 ....

Steven has done a fair bit of writing since I last looked. The main topic of his posts of late have been about his Dad who had a wee health scare in the form of a mild heart attack. Luckily he seems to be doing well and has been released from hospital. It looks like Steve's Dad has taken this wee scare as a wake up call and he's decided to give up smoking for the sake of his health. It's good news. It's a disgusting habit and however much you might want to protest there's no denying it screws up your health...I'm not preaching here...I'm just one of the millions of nictotine addicts round the globe who knows the facts but still chooses to poison myself every day. How intelligent is that?

The fact is smokers are addicts but more importantly it's the habit part of smoking that's damn hard to break. I'm a big believer that you need a reason to stop smoking, something that's individual to you. I quit completely both times I found out I was pregnant. Didn't touch one from day one of finding out. Knowing I was carrying a baby was the reason I needed to give up. It was a piece of cake both times and I continued not to smoke for at least a year after both my kids were born. However, it wasn't the addiction that started me again...that was long gone from my system, it was the habit and as soon as I returned to work both times I automatically bought a pack on my way and joined my colleagues outside for our wee mid morning ciggy break. It was habit.

Steve's Dad has got his reason now and I wish him all the luck in the world as he bids to give them up.

Wake Up Call Part 2....

It was nice to hear that Steve made the long drive down to be with his Mum and see his Dad in person when he heard about his illness. I think Mum had tried to reassure Steve (as Mum's do) that it wasn't necessary for him to make the trip. Steve (like kids do) initially agreed with Mum but then (as kids do) decided to do the opposite! I'm glad Steve took the typical kid route and I'm sure he felt much more settled having seen first hand how his Dad was and despite Mum's reassurance I'm damn sure she was pleased to have her Son there for a cuddle and a bit of moral support.

I went to see my Dad on Sunday morning. It was chilly and damp and the only sound to be heard was the wind moving through the trees and making the various windchimes tinkle, that and the sound of a woman two rows away from me sniffing as she replaced the flowers in a vase on her own Dad's grave. I couldn't give my Dad a hug and neither could she. There lies wake up call number 2 folks...

Jenny xx