It seems that we all must pay for our transgressions, whether now or later, in some form or another. Life seems to work that way. So what was my great transgression, that I should be saddled with this burden at this young age?

I started smoking because it made me feel and look older; plus it was accepted and very common back in the sixties and seventies. There were no warnings on cigarette packages; and although science had begun to make the connection between smoking and lung cancer, there was no grand crusade against smoking. When the eighties arrived things began to change and there were public service advertisements on television and on billboards about the dangers of smoking, so I quit.

However, my transgression initiated a bill that I was to pay later — my lung cancer. Obviously, had I known that there would be a considerably hefty price to pay, I would never have started down that road. Perhaps I ignored the signals. At any rate, I am now in the process of paying for my transgression. It seems to be a fact of life that, at some point, we will all pay!