The writer of the article has been a life long smoker from Europe. After immigrating to the US, and being analyzed with asthma, nearing her middle age, she was trying to quit smoking almost on daily basis, but all of the attempts sadly failed. Nicotine gum and patches didn't work for her, therefore she contacted her surgeon, who joined her in a program and suggested medications, but that didn't her her quit smoking either. What she found was that a severe change of routine worked best in her case. Something humorous approach to a very serious matter recommends that everybody wants to get what works greatly for them, as popular "one size fits all" approach never makes everybody happy.

In the first person: I was born 40 something years ago in Europe, with a cigarette in my mouth. My parents smoked, my relatives smoked, my friends smoked. My father is 82 and still a chain smoker. Smoking is an inevitable part of cultural habits, socializing, and having fun. For a culture that lives on lanes full of cafes, smoking is not optional, it's almost compulsory.

I was 13 when I got hooked on cigarettes, enough to begin budgeting part of my everyday allowance for cigarettes. Mind you, I wasn't an outsider, a straight A student, from a wealthy academic family, I was truly trying to fit in. At that point, and even many years later, trying to quit smoking was not even in the back of my mind. It will take me 30 more years to get to that point.

Writer by occupation, smoking was very much a part of my daily schedule. It was accurately like it used to be in the old black and white movies - me, the typewriter, and the big ashtray with the cigarette butts piled up high. Soon after I moved to the US, the problems with my smoking resulted. They were not just of social nature any longer; they became a health concern too. Not just did I move to the Bay Area, California, which was the undisputed leader in the witch look for smokers, I was analyzed with asthma.

I could say from that moment on, 15 years ago, I was trying to quit smoking on a daily basis. There was by now a severe change in place for me - I couldn't smoke at my office any more and I had to time my smoking habits according to the office timetable. It was difficult at home since my colleague, an American, was a smoker also.

We decided to only smoke outside the home. That didn't work at all, since, unfortunately, it's California, the weather is pleasant year around, so we both ended up simply sleeping in the house, while living, eating, having friends over on the back yard patio. It's amazing with how much yard work you can spend - our postage stamp sized back yard became more similar to jungle with heirloom tomatoes, tea roses, sweet peas, and citrus trees.

I lastly quit smoking cold turkey. Two years afterward, with a new lease on life, I'm proud to say - I haven't had a cigarette ever since. I know it very well: once an addict, always an addict and I had my share of night sweats, nightmares, unstoppable shivers, unmanageable crying. But I can all the time say it was caused by my divorce drama, not nicotine. Every now and then, during lunch break in the financial area, I stop by someone smoking in front of their office building. Second hand smoke still smells so good.