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/ Source: TODAY & # 39; HUI
By Drew Weisholtz
Geoffrey Turner may not be among us anymore, but he always has something to say.
Died on February 13, this 66-year-old man from Latham, New York, wrote his own obituary, which he used to warn others not to smoke.
Turner, whose obituary was published in the Times Union, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last November and had no illusions about his death.
"I was an idiot who was making the same stupid decision, day after day, several times a day, I was a smoker and even though I knew it could possibly kill me, I chose to deny the truth, "he said. in the opening of the obituary.
Turner said lighting had a cost for him and his loved ones.
"The pain and suffering that I caused to my family was not worth the perceived" satisfaction "that was really wasting money, separating me from my family and eventually destroying my body."
And while Turner, who left behind a 41-year-old wife, five children and four grandchildren, recognized the positive aspects of his life, he quickly admitted that smoking had left him with no chance to live yet. more.
"I have done a lot of good things, helped a lot of people and even a decent life," he wrote. "At age 66, I led a decent life, but there are so many events and milestones that I will not be able to share with my loved ones. The moral of this story – do not be silly. If you are a smoker, stop smoking, now your life depends on it and the ones you love depend on your life.
"Do not forget that life is beautiful – do not let it go up in smoke," he added.
Sarah Huiest, Turner's daughter, said that she and her siblings did not know that their father would write this kind of death notice and were surprised at the answer.
"Many people, friends and strangers, have contacted us about her words," she said today. "For some, these are the words they would like to hear from their loved ones – family members who could never admit that smoking has earned them illness." I heard someone say one who said that they could be one of those reached before it is too late.And I have seen hundreds of times that it has been shared in hope to force someone to leave. "
Huiest recounts that, according to family legend, his father had taken one of his mother's cigarettes at the age of 2. He remembered having already smoked at the age of 4 years.
Turner resumed the habit during a business trip to London in the 1990s, although he never smoked at his home and often told his loved ones not to follow his example.
"He knew how much his family did not like him and he told us that smoking was bad and that one should never start," Huiest said.
She also said that her father knew the dangers of smoking, he never really tried to quit smoking.
"He talked about trying to quit smoking last summer with my mother (before her diagnosis), but did not do a lot of effort at all," she said. she said. "She tried to get him quit often, but he was very stubborn and there was very little discussion about it."
In the end, Huiest thinks that his father's last words are a gift that surpasses anything else he's been able to accomplish.
"My father was proud of his many businesses, his commercial successes and his travels around the world," she said. "These are the things I expected to read in his obituary.I did not expect it to be what he was and it was this unique act of his life I'm most proud of it, somebody said that he was going to change his legacy with this obituary, and I could not agree more. "
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