Day 18

I've just about completed day 18 without a cigarette! And, yes, Murr and Lindsay are still alive and well, thank you.

When Mom had her stint put in and they informed her she HAD to stop smoking I made that brave proclamation one day over the phone to her that if she had to quit smoking then I would quit too. I believe she's into her second month now without a cigarette and I'm lagging behind a little at 18 days. I've decided that she has much more willpower than I do, however. She informed me a couple of days ago that she "guessed" she should get rid of all of the packs and cartons of cigarettes that she had stockpiled in the house and the car and her purse and her coat pockets, etc., etc., since she wasn't smoking them anymore. I can guarantee you that if I had that much of an inventory to pick from in the last 18 days that I'd be doing my best to get rid of it, and I don't mean via the trash!

It's a horrible habit and I'm glad to be rid of it, but I will not become one of those "reformed smokers" who think it is their life's calling to convert (or condemn) every smoker out there into a non-smoker. I've always loved that phrase, which you may or may not have heard of: "Smoke 'em if you've got 'em!" I think it was probably alluding to something else entirely, but for this non-smoker it speaks volumes.

September 11

I remember walking into work on that fateful day as big as a boat with over a month before delivery and finding a bunch of co-workers surrounding a TV. After I saw the replays of those planes crashing into the towers I touched my belly and wondered what kind of a world I was bringing an innocent life into. My co-workers and I later watched as those towers fell.

A few days later Judge Warner put a sign on our door. It's a picture of the American Flag and underneath it says, "We will never forget September 11, 2001." Seven years and several pieces of Scotch tape later, that sign is still up.

I had the honor last year of accompanying my dear friend Annie to her grandson's homecoming from Iraq. It was cold and we traveled from Kyle to Ft. Hood to watch them come home. We waited and waited, and then here they come marching across the field at long last. I was just a bystander but I was moved to tears. The raw emotion from that ceremony will last me a lifetime. It didn't matter if I was for or against the War in Iraq, I was just thankful that these young men and women marching towards me were willing to put their lives on the line for all of us, and I was watching their families welcome them back home.