 In today s world of facts and figures about smoking related illness and death, one element is greatly overlooked, the consequences that smoking has on the family.  While You Were Waiting  explores the complex relationship between cigarette addiction and its effects on family members. While finding his wheelchair bound mother franticly searching in the garden for cigarettes, Paul wrestles with the idea of stopping her or allowing her to indulge in her one great pleasure. He stands at the window and struggles to understand why his mother will not stop smoking, even after being diagnosed with emphysema. Through a series of flashbacks, he is forced to face the fact that he has been unable to get her to quit smoking and probably never will. He comes to the terrible realization that he has never held his mothers right hand. The hand that eluded him his entire life, the one that held the cigarettes, and the hand he will never hold again. This story is a heartbreaking look into the addiction of smoking and its consequences to the loved ones of the smoker.