Hall of Fame Speech Of numimaker

Sitting here after 100 days of chewing, I reflect about all of the times that I really wanted to just dive in and "quit" quitting. I have been dipping SKOAL, KODIAK, and then TIMBERWOLF since I was 16. Now, 13 years later, of course, I wish I had never started. Many people quit for their kids. Some folks quit for their spouse. Finally, others quit for their jobs. I quit for me. I quit because I was tired of thinking every single day that had cancer. Tired of letting every earache, or every crick in my neck keep me from sleeping because I was convinced that I had cancer. I quit because I want to be able to feel like my sore throat is just a sore throat and not cancer. I quit because I thought about cancer all of the time. I even started talking about cancer all of the time. I quit because I want to be able to kiss my wife and tell her that I love her without half my face being cut off. I quit because I do not want part of my tongue removed. Some folks quit because it makes their teeth look bad or makes their breath stink, or stains their clothes, or makes it impossible to carry on a conversation with someone important without thinking "do I have a piece of tobacco in my teeth?' All of these are good reasons to quit. Tobacco will rule your days and nights if you let it. Tobacco will make you do things that you would not do for anything else. I would never get up at 10-11 PM, drive 10 miles, drag into a convenience store and fumble aroung in my wallet for $3 for a bag of Combos or a stick of beef jerkey. However, I cannot could the number of times that I HAD to have another dip before I went to bed at night. When something controls you this way, it is not good. It is not good emotionally, it is not good physically, and it is not good spiritually. There is no good thing about dippping, smoking, and/or chewing tobacco.

When I really feel like turning back and caving, I remember one of the quotes from one of my class members (Dec 06 HOF Class). The idea of the post was that "You are no longer a dipper. If you dip, even ONE TIME, you are a dipper again. ONE DIP and you are a dipper.

Although my wife stayed on my back for years to quit, I did not quit for her. Although some day, if we have children, I will be glad that I quit, but that was not the reason I quit. The reason I quit is that someday I am going to have to look at my mangled face in the mirror and blame myself for giving myself cancer.

I may get cancer someday, but now, when I have a headache, I can feel like it is "just" a headache. THAT peace of mind, is worth it all.

Stay strong, YOU CAN WIN THIS FIGHT!!!!

Jeremy Wilson (a.k.a Numimaker)