The Second year of our marriage brought on Eve's first attempt to stop smoking. Eve was a very heavy smoker at two-packs a day, and she kept this secret from her parents at all costs, who are very much against smoking. During the summer she would smoke out on the patio, or in a small enclosed balcony we have overlooking the patio in back. During the winter we set up a room in the basement where she could smoke that would cut down the amount of smoke that would filter through the house. I always thought it was dark and dreary down there, but Eve said that she didn't mind it at all. She said that she even liked it down there. I wish I knew whether I could believe her on that, since she often lied about things when she thought she was protecting me somehow.

I don't mind cigarette smell much, but then I have very little sense of smell. My allergies keep me pretty oblivious to odors. But I always was worried about what affect the nicotine was having on her moods. To me, cigarettes were just another complication in her depression disorder, and I was overjoyed that she decided to try to quit. Never did I put pressure on her to do so, however. It wasn't necessary, and I have always seen that pressure on Eve always did far far more harm than good. She was just too fragile.

Eve had super sensitive skin, so Eve didn't trust Nicotine Patches. And Eve didn't want to trade a cigarette habit for a nicotine gum habit, so Eve decided to just quit, using nothing but willpower. I tried to convince her of the value of the gum, but I was unable to sway her. To Eve's credit, she did quit. By sheer force of will, Eve gradually cut down on her cigarettes until finally she was getting through the day without them. It was rough, but she did it.

Then something happened. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was. It was either some health problem, or perhaps it was an online friendship gone sour. Both happened from time to time, and Eve started falling apart. There was no point quitting cigarettes during a crisis. We could always try again for a better time to quit. So Eve slowly built back up to 2 packs a day.

Eve met another friend online the second year, but after meeting a couple times, they found that they just didn't have that much in common. That, unfortunately was the only other friend in the area that she ever found.

The summer of the second year was just horrible with misquitoes, and Eve rarely got out on the patio. We did, however, purchase many lilies and other water plants this year, which all cheered her up some. Too bad she could not enjoy them as much as she liked. Mostly she stayed up in the balcony, protected by screen windows from the bugs.

Eve's online projects slowed down a bit during the second year. Journal updates became more sparse. Other projects, however, were started up, such as her MUD and haunted mansion. Online, she was making very good friends with many people, though they never met. The first year had been rough with online friendships, since some of her early friends had not been very emotionally stable. The internet community has a high percentage of these.

The highlight of our second year would have to be the High School Reunion that I took Eve to back in Lafayette. It was there that I met her 'brother' John, whom she always adored. Eve often talked of John, but we had never met before this. Eve had a wonderful time there, meeting old friends, and this cheered her up for a long time afterwards. A mistake of mine has always been that I didn't take Eve down to meet John in Chicago. My defense is that I offered to, any time she wanted to. Any time she could schedule it, it would take priority. But this was another project that just kept being pushed off. Next week would always be better for this, or the next. I should have just scheduled it one weekend despite Eve, but whenever I ever tried to do stuff like that, something always came up so that it was a bad idea. But left in Eve's hands to schedule, it never got done.