I get the feeling that I may be in the vast minority of most vapers. My story probably starts out like most ex-smokers. I started smoking when I was 16 (47 now). I met my wife when I was 21, and was a 1.5 pack a day smoker. Not being a smoker, she pretty much put up with it, until we started talking about getting married. She said that she would not marry a smoker, so I started my first attempt to quit. The first time that I quit was right before we got married. Since then, I have restarted and quit several times. Whenever life got too stressful, I would return to smoking, and since it was impossible to be a married closet smoker, that would always be followed by another attempt to quit. My longest stretch was nearly 10 years. (Married for 24 years) After the long stretch, I started smoking again when I travelled to my childhood home to attend my little brother's funeral. By the time I got back home after that experience, I was a 2 pack a day smoker again, and it continued for another 4 years. During that time I went thru a career change into the IT field, and worked nearly 75 hours a week at 2 jobs. One of the jobs was as a pizza delivery driver, and quitting smoking was out of the question while delivering. Finally, after delivering Pizza for nearly 2.5 years, the IT career started to take hold, and I was able to give up the delivery job. I had promised my wife that I would quit smoking again after this happened. I made good on my promise, and quit less than 6 months later. I finally quit again sometime in 2004 (can’t remember exactly when anymore).
Fast forward to current times.... Since 2004, I have come very close too many times to count. Sometimes, my job took me on a road trip out of state, and I would smoke until the trip home, trashing any evidence as I crossed the state line, not wanting my wife to find out. The last time that happened was more than 6 years ago, but I have had many close calls since then.
This past spring, things began to get pretty stressful at work, and I found myself craving analogs more and more, and I had more close calls than usual. This past July, A situation at work occurred that pushed me over the limit. I found myself inside at a gas station after a long day, asking for 2 packs of smokes (Camels of course), and a lighter. Pulling out my wallet to pay, I noticed a Blu E-Cig display. And made a quick decision to give it a try. After all, at $10, the disposable Blu cost less than 2 packs of smokes, and a lighter. I figured, what the hell... If this works, I won't have to explain myself to my wife. I didn't realize it at the time, but now I'm convinced that this decision probably saved my life. I found that the Blu totally satisfied my craving, and the need for the smoking experience.
I used that one disposable for nearly a week, and bought two more. All the while researching the Blu brand. I bought a starter kit, and after realizing that I liked it so much, having only two batteries was not working for me. I bought another starter kit, to have more batteries, and another charging option. I kept this hidden from my wife for nearly 6 weeks, because I was worried that she would not understand, and didn't know how long term this would be. I made the decision to tell her, but had not decided when and how. Shortly after this decision, I had my trusty Blu on my lap, and it dropped onto the floor, where she found it. At that point, I "spilled my guts", and we had a lengthy discussion about it. Not wanting to admit how close I had come to starting again, I left that part out, since I was still not convinced that this would prevent me from smoking long term.
Since then, I discovered the wide world of vaping and vaping options. I upgraded to a Johnson Creek Vea kit, and I am loving it. I honestly feel that I have found the ultimate solution to my problem of more than 24 years. I can satisfy my craving without harming myself and annoying others. My wife is still not totally convinced that it is OK, but she is putting up with it. I have made the decision that I need to tell her everything, including all the close calls. Now that I finally feel that I have found the solution that can be long term. I no longer feel ashamed of myself for my decision. The entire reason that I kept this from her was because I was too ashamed/proud/afraid to admit that I was never really able to quit. I feel that I am now, as long as E-Cigs are available.
If for some reason, E-Cigs get banned; my wife and I will cross that bridge when we come to it. Together.
Fast forward to current times.... Since 2004, I have come very close too many times to count. Sometimes, my job took me on a road trip out of state, and I would smoke until the trip home, trashing any evidence as I crossed the state line, not wanting my wife to find out. The last time that happened was more than 6 years ago, but I have had many close calls since then.
This past spring, things began to get pretty stressful at work, and I found myself craving analogs more and more, and I had more close calls than usual. This past July, A situation at work occurred that pushed me over the limit. I found myself inside at a gas station after a long day, asking for 2 packs of smokes (Camels of course), and a lighter. Pulling out my wallet to pay, I noticed a Blu E-Cig display. And made a quick decision to give it a try. After all, at $10, the disposable Blu cost less than 2 packs of smokes, and a lighter. I figured, what the hell... If this works, I won't have to explain myself to my wife. I didn't realize it at the time, but now I'm convinced that this decision probably saved my life. I found that the Blu totally satisfied my craving, and the need for the smoking experience.
I used that one disposable for nearly a week, and bought two more. All the while researching the Blu brand. I bought a starter kit, and after realizing that I liked it so much, having only two batteries was not working for me. I bought another starter kit, to have more batteries, and another charging option. I kept this hidden from my wife for nearly 6 weeks, because I was worried that she would not understand, and didn't know how long term this would be. I made the decision to tell her, but had not decided when and how. Shortly after this decision, I had my trusty Blu on my lap, and it dropped onto the floor, where she found it. At that point, I "spilled my guts", and we had a lengthy discussion about it. Not wanting to admit how close I had come to starting again, I left that part out, since I was still not convinced that this would prevent me from smoking long term.
Since then, I discovered the wide world of vaping and vaping options. I upgraded to a Johnson Creek Vea kit, and I am loving it. I honestly feel that I have found the ultimate solution to my problem of more than 24 years. I can satisfy my craving without harming myself and annoying others. My wife is still not totally convinced that it is OK, but she is putting up with it. I have made the decision that I need to tell her everything, including all the close calls. Now that I finally feel that I have found the solution that can be long term. I no longer feel ashamed of myself for my decision. The entire reason that I kept this from her was because I was too ashamed/proud/afraid to admit that I was never really able to quit. I feel that I am now, as long as E-Cigs are available.
If for some reason, E-Cigs get banned; my wife and I will cross that bridge when we come to it. Together.
Last edited:
