The Herald Democrat received a letter to the editor from Clarence Mueller of Sherman that was published on Sunday. In it Mr. Mueller states that he's upset the Texas legislature was considering a bill that would ban smoking in all public places.

While it is his right to smoke (I gather from the letter that Mr. Mueller is a smoker) It is my right to ask him to quit smoking.

So Mr. Mueller, will you quit smoking?

Here's why I ask. My father was a lot like you. He took up smoking as an 18-year old in the U.S. Army during World War II. Back then, they used to put small packs of cigarettes in C-Ration packs so the soldiers could, "smoke 'em if you've got 'em."

My dad never did quit smoking, and he was a four pack a day man. His brand of choice was Pall Mall. He used to say, "Filters just give you a hernia."

When my brother started smoking, he laughed at his choice of Salem, saying you needed to smoke a man's cigarette. If somebody on the street approached him to bum a cigarette, my dad was more than willing to give one, but it always surprised me how many people that were obviously homeless would turn down a free Pall Mall.

My father was 62 years old with no health problems until he was having trouble eating and decided to go to the doctor. Two weeks later he died. The cancer, called large cell carcinoma, had gone from his lung into his esophagus, then into every organ in his body. I was in the room when he died, watching him gasp for air that wouldn't come until he finally stopped trying. It's a death you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. I was 25 years old when he died and I consider that the time I became a man.

My mother is 81 now, she's been a widow since 1989. Seven years ago, she went to the dentist, and he said she had a growth in her jaw that made him nervous.

She went to the doctor, and he diagnosed her with squamous cell carcinoma and said it was most likely caused by smoking -- an odd diagnosis since she only smoked one to two cigarettes a day. My mother was not a heavy smoker.

Instead I had to take her back to an oral surgeon who had to pull 16 of her teeth out before they could begin the surgery. Then, a surgeon took out her jawbone, and it didn't go well. The bone was left exposed and got infected, which caused another surgery and more bone removal. Then she had radiation which burned her face and left her without salivary glands. She has to drink water to get food down now. Her smile, once a great source of pride for her, is now gone because so many teeth were pulled.

She's still alive and has been cancer free for 6 years now, but trust me when I tell you Mr. Mueller, cancer is a disease that not only affects you, but your family as well.

If you live five years after your initial diagnosis, doctors consider you cured. If course, if the cancer comes back, there's nothing they can do for you.

My advice, Mr. Mueller is quit smoking now, start going to the doctor and consider yourself lucky you've been able to dodge a very big bullet by staying cancer free this long.

In my opinion, the question isn't will people who smoke cigarettes get cancer, but when will people who smoke get cancer.

Mr. Mueller, you owe it to yourself and your family to quit now. I pray that you do.