I went shopping today and outside the store there were a bunch of smokers huddled together in the cold. I watched them and thought “Yeah, I used to do that.” And I felt a little pang of sadness for them because I know how much it sucks to have to do that. I’d gotten to the point with my own smoking that this was something I didn’t do anymore. I pretty much only smoked at home –  before work, after work, after dinner, before bed — and didn’t smoke anywhere else, except for sometimes in my car. It was one of the ways I’d cut back and put restrictions on my habit so that I wouldn’t smoke too much. Even so, when I walked past those smokers huddled together, I smiled at them. They were my team. Except I guess they weren’t anymore.

I took the deepest breath possible when passing them by. God, I love them.