Name: Gloria Taylor
Age: 50
Smoked: 34 years
Hometown: Milwaukee
How she quit: Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line
When her husband died, it was more than Gloria Taylor could take. She had quit smoking for six years – quit for him. But after he died, she lit up again.
Not long after his death, though, Gloria got a wake-up call when her daughter’s aunt and uncle died within a week of each other from illnesses likely caused by smoking. “I was scared straight,” she says. “Now I keep their picture on the refrigerator, and I say, ‘Don’t smoke, this could happen to you.’”
The Milwaukee resident called the Quit Line for help, started using Wellbutrin, set a quit date and has been smoke free ever since.
“The Quit Line was very helpful for me. I needed someone to be on my side that wasn’t in the family, and they were. They kept checking on me, and that made me feel better, that someone else out there cared about me.” Since quitting, she has joined four choirs. “I can sing soprano again!” she says.
“My house doesn’t seem smoky anymore, I’m not coughing up phlegm in the morning, I can walk farther.” She started smoking at age 16 to “fit in” with friends. Now she says, “I’m excited to get to see my grandkids grow up.” And she tells friends who want to quit to call the Quit Line.
For more on getting help to quit smoking, visit our Smokers section.
–Gloria Taylor