Cutting the Top on a New Life

One of my favorite things about buying a new can was always sliding my nail around the can to cut the top open. The anticipation of each can was different yet the same as I couldn’t wait to see the quality of dip waiting inside for me to consume. Was it going to be dry or fresh, filled correctly or did the factory steal a pinch? As much as I enjoyed that moment, I don’t miss it either!

I started chewing at 15 years old and at 36, I decided I have had enough. Enough of the glares from my wife when we have to make a stop, my teammates at work who would watch me pile that scum in my lip and not only not spit but leave it for hours. Enough of shitty smelling car that I drive 43 miles one-way to work, tobacco remnants and spitters all over. Enough of paying over $7 for a single can, when I started chewing Grizzly it was still not commercially available and my neighbor gave me a box because he worked for US Smokeless.

I do want to say Thank You to Grizzly, Thank You for stamping 20 years on the can this past year. That was the beginning of my quit! When I looked down and thought, “You been cramming this in your mouth for 20 damn years! MY GOD!” I thought about my grandfather who died of emphysema from smoking for over 20 years, my youngest daughter who was about turn one in a week, this “lump” in my neck that would turn out to be swollen glands, and I thought about myself. I thought about all the positive things I have going for me and how quickly that could change by continuing to use tobacco.

I am Thankful for this website / discord, as it really helped me through some difficult times. Days 1-10 were hell, along this journey they were still the hardest to get through. Part of me still thinks about those days and how hard they were and think “no way am I ever going through that again!” Thank You to my Quit Group and my Birth month of The February Faeries!

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan community member KeepinItGreen