Flashback Friday: There were three, but now the baby stands alone

 Three sisters: (from left, pictured in the late 1980s) Gayle; Janice, my momma; and Teresa, the baby sister left behind.

My Aunt Gayle died last week. She was 71. She was my momma's big sister. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) killed her just like it took my momma almost three years ago. Their disease was caused by smoking something that each of them had done for more than 50 years.

Their baby sister, Teresa, or Auntie Tee as she is called by my girls, is now left without her big sisters with whom she was tremendously close. She's feeling kind of lost. She doesn't know how to walk through this world without her sisters in it. I feel sorry for her.

If you're a smoker, please consider quitting. If you love someone who is a smoker, try to persuade them to quit. Both my Aunt Gayle and my momma might have been able to reside on this earth a few more years with those of us who loved them so much had they been able to find the strength to quit.

Smoking took them away from their families. Don't let it take you from yours or your loved one from you.