Paul+letter

Paul Sommers Eng 103 Dear sister, I am writing this letter because I care about you. I am addressing your addiction to smoking and its effects on you. I understand that now that you have started it will be hard for you to stop but I hope that this letter will help. While reading this letter know that I am not doing it to bring you down but to help you because I care so much. I remember in sixth grade a bunch of people from our neighborhood were all hanging out at the park. One of the older kids that was with us had a pack of cigarettes. All the kids thought it would be cool to go smoke back in the woods. I thought it would be dumb and had heard enough about smoking to know that it was a dumb idea. I saw the look in your eyes like you knew it was bad but wanted to do what everyone else was. I stayed and played basketball, while you and the rest of our friends went and smoked. I realize that after this you were not addicted but it was a start. I blame myself for not saying anything to you or trying to stop you. I should have been a good brother and made sure you didn’t go back in the woods. I should have taught you how to fight the peer pressure because it was only going to get worse. I started to notice a difference in the people we began to hang out with. I had no problem with them but I started to notice some bad habits you were picking up from them. You began to be very disobedient and began talking back at mom and dad. This group of friends also gave you the bad habit of smoking. At first I didn’t think much of it. I knew it was bad and knew that I was never going to do it but didn’t understand the seriousness of it. I then looked up some facts of smoking. I will name you some of these shocking facts that I read about. One of every five deaths in America is caused by tobacco use.1 It is estimated that 400,000 deaths a year are caused by tobacco use. Half of all long term smokers will die of tobacco related death.2 All of these were very shocking facts to me. This probably just seems like all the pointless facts you hear all the time. Think about our mom and dad though. They smoked at a young age and think of the chance that they would be dead right now. According to the statistics, one of them would be dead from a smoking related death. I think they knew the affect that their death would have on us kids and knew they had to stop. I realize that it will be hard for you to stop smoking now that you are so addicted but you have to consider it. It is so harmful to you. There are no benefits to smoking. Some say it reliefs stress but that’s not the only choice. When I become stressed I work out or go for a long run. By running your body releases endorphins and it lowers your stress level. Not only is smoking a huge health risk but it is also separating you from the family. This is a little dramatic but is true in a lot of ways. No one in our very close family smokes and when we are all hanging out many times you have to leave to go smoke. I can think of many examples when the entire family was hanging out and having a good time and you had to leave to smoke. Just the other night when we all stayed in a hotel instead of staying in the room with all of us, you had a smoker’s only room. That was time you could have spent with the entire family. We love all the time we get to spend as a family. It just isn’t the same when you are not there. We all care a lot about you and really want you to stop smoking. Smoking has also changed how you act. It is almost like everything comes behind smoking. Even your family has come second to smoking. Last I will discuss the amount of money you spend on cigarettes. I know that money is not the most important thing but it can lead to very harmful things when you are addicted and don’t have money. I truly knew how addicted you were to cigarettes when you stole twenty dollars from me because you didn’t have enough for a pack. You do not have a job and are living on your own. There is no way that you are paying for cigarettes unless you are stealing them or finding other illegal ways to get money. Being addicted to nicotine is a serious problem in the world today. It will be very hard for you to stop but I believe as soon as you do you will feel better about yourself. You know the seriousness of smoking and hope you realize that it is not worth all the health, social, and economic problems. Please consider all that I have said and know that I care about you and want the best for you. Love, Paul 1. "Cigarette Smoking Facts: 21 Shocking Smoking Facts." //A 2 Z of Health and Beauty//. Web. 02 Oct. 2010. <[]>. 2. Martin, By Terry. "Shocking Smoking Facts and Tobacco Statistics." //Quit Smoking | Quit Smoking Support | Smoking Cessation//. Web. 02 Oct. 2010. <[]>.