Both of my grandpas have emphysema. Their lungs are filling with fluid, almost like drowning. They can hardly share their life stories or talk in general anymore, which really makes me sad because there's still so much I don't know about them and the things they have seen and experienced throughout their lives. One of them can't even walk back up the driveway after getting the mail without stopping to catch his breath. He calls his oxygen thing a leash, trying to be funny, but he never leaves the house anymore because he simply doesn't have the stamina. And he's obviously depressed by that as he has been on many adventures throughout his life, and now that's over.

I always ask family members to try to be as healthy as possible; regardless of how healthy someone is they can drop dead at the drop of a pin. I think a lot of people don't think about the toll it takes on their kids as well. It makes it so much harder on them if they have to take care of you when you're older because you didn't take care of yourself. My mom for example hurt her back at work as a carpenter. She's not supposed to lift anything, she does anyways. I keep telling her she needs to stop because if she ends up in a wheelchair it will make it harder for me to take care of her and she will decrease her own quality of life. Of course there are people that smoke like a chimney and are perfectly fine, but I don't think it's worth the risk.

TLDR: Think of the younglings & your own quality of life.