April 15th Entry

I emailed the above picture of a vintage ad that I'd found on the web to my character and asked her to use it as a prompt for the memory I wanted to share for the April 15th entry in my 2014 Fake Journal. She'd already printed it out and glued it to the page before she called me.

Here's a copy of an extract from her summary of what I told her when she called.

...her father often told her that when she was born he'd promised his parents (whom he greatly admired) that S would never smoke.

S said that always made her proud & feel special & she thought she was obligated by that promise. She said she's often since wondered why she had such a positive reaction rather than being rebellious.

She was slightly rebellious her freshman year when she went to an out-of-state college where almost everyone -- including her -- lived in single-sex dorms. She bought a box of Vogue* cigarettes! She remembers the pretty colored papers & gold tips & she thinks a dark flat box -- "distinctive slide case" which she carried in her purse.

I probably should have mentioned that I also loved and admired my father's parents, i.e. my paternal grandparents. They were quite young when my father was born so I had them for a long time; neither of them died until after I was married and both of my children were born.

As best as I can remember I didn't smoke more than two packs of cigarettes the entire time I was in college. (I graduated in 1962.) I've probably smoked no more that half a pack since them. I've definitely never been smoker for which I will always be very grateful.

Here's a scan of part of the above extract as it appeared in the journal.