I was 16 years old when I was handed my first cigarette in the parking lot of my high school. All the cool kids where doing it, so why not? I took my first drag under peer pressure, and just about gagged, but kept a straight face because the cute boy was watching. 16 and impressionable, with rock and roll star role models, fashionable movie stars smoking and telling stories of their favorite smokes in popular magazines, puffing away in music videos and TV ads; couple that with the free stuff you can ONLY get with the points off cigarette boxes and I was hooked. This was the 1990’s. The 1990’s changed my life forever. I would see the other ads telling me NOT to smoke, Smoking WILL Kill You, Just Say NO to Cigarettes, but at 16 years old you have mastered the technique of the eye roll, saying ??Whatever. If it’s so bad, why is everyone doing it?? Doing anything to look older than I was at 16, I kept smoking until the age of 38. I told myself and others that I was quitting and that I had made up my mind NOT to smoke, but it never worked! Nothing I tried made quitting possible! I tried nicotine chewing gum, nicotine patches in all kind of varieties and strengths. I constantly chewed of the ends plastic straws, pen caps, finger nails and even pencils….but, I couldn’t quit. Coming from a long line of painful addiction on my Father??s side of the family whose drug of choose was alcohol, I wanted to have a better life. I didn’t want to fall prey to my Father’s vice, so I kept smoking, which was far more socially acceptable and less cumbersome to hide. Until the middle of 2012, I would drive my kids home and regularly smoked my last cigarette(s) on the way. I developed a habit of stopping at the gas station to buy some more cigarettes using other excuses to try and hide my addiction from my kids. One afternoon, I stopped and there was a display for the e-cig. I was not convinced, but I thought Okay, let??s see what this will do, and bought the e-cig instead of the cigarette. I got in the car and my kids were in shock. They were smarter and more aware than I had thought.What is that mom…where is your cigarette? I said This is a e-cig. I have heard of them and thought I try it. Of course my kids where so happy that I made up my mind to try to stop smoking…again! My oldest daughter asked, When did you plan this mom? I said, 5 minutes ago. and their faces dropped…then, they smiled and said, We’re glad that you’re going to stop smoking. Here’s the thing, I wanted to quit smoking all those years ago…but, because someone else wanted me to. This time it was my spontaneous decision to take a chance that I made because a little display of e-cigs at the gas station caught my eye! I am proud to say that as of April 2013 I am 1 year cigarette free! I use the e-cig daily. I am healthy and so are my loved ones around me, and because of my success with the e-cig I have many friends that have stop smoking and turned to e-cigs as well. Not because I pushed them to, but instead because they watched my success with them. I’m proud to be part of the solution and have never regretted my choice. I was successful with the e-cig, because I can order the supplies online and also local if needed. It requires more planning and preparation on my part, but I was success because IT WORKS. This high-strung, high-stress owner of a graphic design business with demanding deadlines in a very competitive industry, the mother of 2 teenage daughters, good wife, proud daughter, devoted friend, home owner, pet owner and woman in a demanding time of social change, was FINALLY successful at dropping the smoke-filled death sticks to the freedom of water vapor and nicotine. Yes, the nicotine is still there and the requirement is no different…but now, I’d far more healthy and happy KNOWING that I CAN change the one real regret of my teenage years in the hope that my children are smarter and better informed than I was. Keep Vaping -Karrie Munkittrick, Florida