Real Stories, Real Success
Meet People Who Quit!

Jennifer Blannon

My story is typical of my generation. I was raised in the 1950's/1960's when it was fashionable to smoke. It was encouraged in movies. Television was new to most communities just a decade earlier. Commercials were prevalent on all stations at the time. There were just three major stations at the time as I recall. Channels 2,4, and 7 or CBS, NBC, and ABC.

At an early age, I was drawn to the glamour of Hollywood movies and movie stars and it all seemed to promote cigarette smoking. I was hooked before I ever took a puff. It was a young girl's dream to grow up and be glamorous and smoke, including having a cigarette case with matching lighter. That was my goal at one time. Is was sort of like a badge of honor of coolness. Of course in my mind I had "arrived" at around the age of 18 in college. So from 1968 to 1998 I smoked on jobs, in church basements, at the movies, everywhere it was allowed - and I believe it was allowed almost everywhere. It was the "adult" thing to do. It was socially acceptable and encouraged. At first there was no information that I knew of as to the adverse effects cigarettes had on our health until approximately 1965 when Black Singer Nat King Cole died of Lung Cancer, which was attributed to tobacco.

After 30 years of smoking, I did quit. I will share my personal journey on how I decided to quit, and how I did quit on Jan. 10th, 1998 with a promise to myself and God never to return to smoking EVER AGAIN.