Sunday is a big day for me. Sort of. It’s certainly a day worth remembering. Or maybe forgetting. It could go either way.
March 3, 2019 was a Sunday, the same as this year. You don’t always have dates matching up with days like that, but throw in a couple leap years and it can happen over five years.
But on Sunday, March 3, 2019, I quit smoking.
It’s pretty easy to remember. Unlike some other dates. Like even our wedding anniversary.
There was one year I forgot our wedding anniversary. The good thing was, so did my wife. It was over a week later when her mother called to apologize for missing our anniversary that we both realized we had forgotten all about it ourselves. There was a lot going on in our lives that year. But I will say that’s probably the only way to get away with forgetting your anniversary. If you somehow both forget.
But this is a bit easier to remember for me. Mostly because I quit smoking because I had a heart attack.
It snowed overnight on March 2, 2019. March 3 was a beautiful morning. Sunny, almost warm. The perfect day to play in the snow. Or shovel. And discover you probably should have skipped some of those deep fried meals over the years.
But I gave me the push I needed to quit smoking. I had been thinking about it, but had never managed to pull it off. I had tried a few times. Even made it as far as a year or more once or twice before backsliding into the habit once again. This time, so far, it has stuck.
Since I was going to be in the hospital for a few days and they do not allow smoking in the hospital, it seemed like a good time to quit. So I did.
I was asked a few times if I wanted a patch or some kind of stop smoking aid. I said no. It was time for me to stop. So I did.
I know it’s not something everyone can do. Just decide to stop smoking and do it. Somehow, I did. And it stuck.
There are still occasional cravings. Even five years down the road. But there are benefits. I feel better.
So I’ll be celebrating a bit on Sunday. Not so much the heart attack. That’s one of those things I’d rather not remember. But it got me to do something I should have done long before. So I guess it was a good thing.
That I will celebrate.