Four years ago on Nov. 28, 2010, I was told by my doctor that if I didn’t quit smoking I would have a stroke.

Then he told me I had an addictive personality, and that I couldn’t quit.

He was right, I had been addicted to smokes since I was 13 or 14. I started out smoking “smoke wood” on the beach. It was easy to get cigarettes back then, so began my 48 years of addiction.

By telling me that I couldn’t quit he showed me how little he knew about my personality. No one tells me what I can and cannot do. No one.

So, three days later on Dec. 1, I went back to him and told him I had quit. It will be four years this year, and I have not had a smoke in all that time. But I keep a pack of smokes in my car at all times, just in case the mood strikes.

So far, it hasn’t.

I am writing to thank Shelly Van Skyhawk for helping me accomplish this. I went to her and she did a laser treatment on me. It took her three days for the first treatment and a couple of weeks after, but I quit that very same day.

The first thing she told me was that a person needs a powerful reason. Well, my reason was not to stroke out. So my motto became, “No smokes, no strokes.”

Thanks to her, it worked.

For those that want to talk to her she can be located at, shelly@islandvitality.com, (206) 930-2004.

Jeanie Garrett/San Juan Island