My dad started smoking when he was 15 years old If he had ever been successful at quitting, he might have been able to be at my wedding. He died of lung cancer that spread to his brain and liver the year before I got married. He was only 52 years old. Because of cigarettes, he didn't get to see his youngest daughter graduate from college, never got to see any of us kids married, and will never know any of his grandchildren.