Above shows a picture of a pipe. This was my grandfathers from the 1950s. He used to live in Norway on a big farm with all his siblings, (he had nine). Smoking back then was not a bad thing and people did it all the time including my grandfather and his family. He would sit around talking and laughing with his siblings and friends while smoking his pipe. This pipe came with him to Canada when he moved from Norway to Canada, where he met my grandmother and where my mom grew up. Though he smoked quite often, the minute it was exposed that nicotine and cigarettes were bad for you, he immediately quit and never smoked again. After he realized smoking was intoxicating, he started trying to make up for it. He did this by becoming very athletic. He started going on walks, and runs every day. He became an amazing cross country skier and up until his death at age 91, he would still play soccer with me and my siblings and had no cane, no walker, and would still go on daily walks every morning. This pipe caught my attention and I chose to write about it because it shows how nicotine ruined many lives, and if my grandfather had not chosen to quit it could have ruined his too. 

– LS

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant