Tag: death

Diary of a Nicotine Addict: Remembering Why

~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments
Locked Up Memory
photo credit: maistora via photo pin cc

Let me say up-front:  The Bitch has been up to her wicked ways, but she has not been successful. ♥

With major life changes going on, retiring and moving from a city to a small town in the Sierra foothills, I have dealt with stress and emotions for weeks now.  I am wanting to start-up smoking again to relieve some of the pressure and strangeness I’m feeling.

Soooo, it’s time to remind myself of why I quit AND  why I need to stay quit. I should remind myself of the perks too.  Yes, believe it or not, there are perks!

Because I have not come up with the box that has my medical info and original list of reasons to quit inside of it, I will do my best to recreate it here.  If you are recovering from any kind of addiction, I invite you to make a reason list along with me. You also have reasons to stay clean. Who knows?  We may even share a few of them…

Jodi’s Reason List:

  1. Both of my parents died young of smoking related illnesses.
  2. I have chronic health conditions that are bad enough without being worsened by smoking.
  3. I don’t want to be the source of 2nd hand smoke anymore.
  4. Always had to interrupt whatever I was doing to go have a cigarette, because I just had to have one! (Perk: I won’t be standing outside in horrible weather because I have to smoke)
  5. Two words: Ashtray breath   (Perk: My gums are healthier and not receding anymore)
  6. It embarrassed me to be the only one at work who smoked (Perk: People stopped giving me crap about it)
  7. Was tired of being smelly (Perk: I can wear perfume and smell wonderful now)
  8. Sometimes I would chain smoke until I was nauseous (Perk: I make a lot of baby blankets)
  9. I hate the lying & conniving  tobacco industry, and I don’t want to support them anymore.
  10. I hate paying all the taxes when buying cigarettes. (Perk: I’ve saved $$$ )
Blogging All Night Long
photo credit: Federico_Morando via photo pin cc

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How many can YOU list???

A Death in the Family

~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

Normally I write about frivolous things with smart-ass humor, or climb up on my soap box and rant good and loud. This post is different.

My sister Melanie and I said good-bye to our terminally ill mother last spring. We leaned on one another during the months we took care of her, and then as we carried out her last wishes. We had lost our father in 1993 and now it was just the two of us. Being “the writer” of the family it fell to me to write mom’s obituary. It had to be perfect. I struggled for 3 days on the thing until I couldn’t find anything more to re-write. That and I had the thing memorized.

If you have ever had the misfortune to write one, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.  How do you sum up somebody’s entire life? Especially someone you have known and loved your whole life. Writing a stranger’s obituary would be so much easier. Just the facts. No memories. No emotions.

Last month I got a phone call – Melanie died. WTF??  How could she just die in her sleep like that? She’s my younger sister. The second shock was the cause of her death. The coroner explained to me that Mel was healthy – except she had advanced stages of coronary artery disease. Her arteries were so blocked that her poor heart simply gave out. I can almost hear my mom holler, “Well, SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!”.  Mom always did get to the point.

So, here I sit sweating over another obituary. Mel’s memorial will be on the 16th, and tonight is my self-inflicted deadline. At 10:08 PM (PDT) I stopped fussing with the copy, closed my eyes and sent my sister’s obit and photo to our local newspaper, and a Bay Area newspaper. Maybe some of her former classmates/co-workers/buddies will see it and drop by.

I hope so – Mel deserves that.

An Ode to Mom

~ JodiLea

In case you wondered where the #@!!  I’ve been, or if I flaked out of the postaday2011 challenge, I assure you that you haven’t read the last of me. I spent last week at my mother’s bedside instead of my laptop. I can blog anytime, but mom would soon be gone forever.

This week I have the time to blog, but I am writing something else. An Obituary. Mom passed away on Tuesday, so I am already behind on this assignment.  Sunday’s local newspaper will have one  obit.  I am writing a different obit for mom’s hometown newspaper in West Virgina. She has family and many friends back there who deserve to know.

I knew my mom since I was a little kid, so this should be a snap, right? Ha!

I think the closer you are to someone the harder it gets. Perhaps you know too much and the problem is narrowing it all down. And how much is enough? I could not afford to write all I wanted to in California ($7.00 per 25 characters). West Virginia had a flat rate for whatever you wanted to send them, so guess who will read more and see a photo to boot?

The obits are almost identical. A couple of things were left out and some added to the one being published in West Virginia. I needed to filter out stuff that her kin would not approve of her [women] doing  (i.e.,  gambling, fast cars …).  I also added the High School she graduated from.

Don’t forget about the most important part of an obituary: the survivor list. Why  must we be recognized in an obituary?.  Because we are stuck here without our dearly departed  (who are not going to read the newspaper anyway), and we want everyone to know we’re hurting.

I love and miss you mom!

Nita McGuire
Nita Joyce (Browning) McGuire 1937 - 2011