Smoking with the Cool GirlsSidetracked Sisters

Being a little sister is not always easy. Whenever Sandy and her girlfriends were trying things out, I wanted to try them too.

As is often the case, when I was going through this experience, it wasn’t funny. With every telling, it gets funnier and funnier. And now, it is downright hysterical.

Sandy was babysitting for me, as usual, when this funny situation occurred. Sandy’s friend Margie had come over to spend the night. Mom and Dad were going to work, as was their routine, on Friday nights. As soon as they left, Sandy pulled a package of Winston Filter cigarettes out of her pocket. She had matches too, and I was curious.

Sandy lit up the first cigarette and held the match for Margie’s cigarette. They puffed and tried to inhale and blew out clouds of gray smoke. They looked very cool.

“Let me try”, I whined. Sandy said I had to wait a minute. She would smoke the cigarette down until it was almost to the filter. She would then hand it to me and I would smoke down past the filter until there was nothing left to hang on to.

I could feel myself getting nauseous but I was afraid to say anything because they would make me stop. So, they continued to light up, smoke down, and hand off to me.

I loved feeling like one of the cool girls and didn’t want to give up. My sister and her friend were thirteen at this time which made me eight years old. Suddenly, I was overcome with a sick stomach that wouldn’t quit. I ran upstairs and proceeded to get very sick and throw up.

When Mom and Dad arrived at home, I was upstairs hugging the porcelain bus and losing my last several meals. I could hear Mom asking where I was. Sandy smoothly explained that I must have the flu or something because I was very sick to my stomach.

Mom tells the end of the story saying I was sicker than a dog for the whole weekend. She said she was very puzzled because no one else in the family had the flu.

Years later, the truth of the story came out and we all laughed until we cried. Mom said she never knew what really happened, which caused Sandy to laugh harder than any of us. Jokes played on Judy were always good for a laugh.