Para. 7 There is a deep hurt that I feel as a mother. Some days it is a feeling of uselessness. I remember how carefully I ate when I was pregnant, how patiently I taught my daughter how to cross a street safely. For what, I sometimes wonder; so that she can struggle to breathe through most of her life feeling half her strength, and then die of self-poisoning, as her grandfather did? Para. 8 There is a quotation from a battered women's shelter that I especially like: "Peace on earth begins at home. I believe everything does. I think of a quotation for people trying to stop smoking: "Every home is a no smoking zone. Smoking is a form of self-battering that also batters those who must sit by, occasionally joke or complain, and helplessly watch. I realize now that as a child I sat by, through the years, and literally watched my father kill himself: surely one such victory in my family, for the prosperous leaders who own the tobacco companies, is enough.Para. 7 There is a deep hurt that I feel as a mother. Some days it is a feeling of uselessness. I remember how carefully I ate when I was pregnant, how patiently I taught my daughter how to cross a street safely. For what, I sometimes wonder; so that she can struggle to breathe through most of her life feeling half her strength, and then die of self-poisoning, as her grandfather did? Para. 8 There is a quotation from a battered women’s shelter that I especially like: “Peace on earth begins at home.” I believe everything does. I think of a quotation for people trying to stop smoking: “Every home is a no smoking zone.” Smoking is a form of self-battering that also batters those who must sit by, occasionally joke or complain, and helplessly watch. I realize now that as a child I sat by, through the years, and literally watched my father kill himself: surely one such victory in my family, for the prosperous leaders who own the tobacco companies, is enough