Different story for me. There was a family that lived across the street – mon, dad, two kids. We played with the kids all the time – my sister and I would hang out with them day and night.
If I was 7 or 8 at the time. I would guess that the mother (let’s call her Mrs. L) was somewhere around 35–36 or so.
Mrs. L. smoked like chimney. We would hear her have smoker’s cough all the time and their house stank of cigarettes. I remember her telling all us kids once – “don’t start smoking, it’s going to kill me.” She knew it but she couldn’t stop.
Sure enough she died of lung cancer by the time she was 40. I was maybe 12 when that happened.
Anyway, it made a strong impression on me. In my entire life, I have never smoked a cigarette.