Here Comes The Sun

I took my granddaughter swimming and was given strict instructions regarding sun-screen, sun hats and sun times. I listen now. I am afraid I was not quite so diligent with my own children and I know I was not careful when I was young. Dear friends Carol, Mallory and I would make a wild concoction of baby oil and iodine and literally fry ourselves all day. The oil would bake us and the iodine would dye us. Add the lemon we slathered in our hair and I am sure our aromas preceded any arrivals. Those were the good old days!

Have you been checked for sun damage? I was. Get a look at yourself in that black light and you may never go out in the sunshine again. It was horrible. Who knew all that was underneath my skin, just waiting to emerge, one spot at a time.

I loved to tan. I love to tan. It feels good. It makes you happy. Everyone knows tan skin is better than lily white, under a rock, death warmed over skin. Even grandmother's would say, "honey, you just need a little color." Sigh. I can't even put on the fake bake anymore because all those lovely sun spots (i.e. sun damaged skin) won't take the color the same way. I look like an orange cheetah.

Are our teens listening to the dangers of ultra-violet rays? They should be, but they are not. My non-scientific poll indicates they tan winter and summer. Tanning beds are a popular and readily available solution to keeping that bronze glow all year. Unfortunately, they are also just as harmful as the "real deal." They are just as harmful and they are also available 24/7, three hundred and thirty five days a year.

Ultra-violet light in sunshine causes skin to tan by stimulating production of melanin, the skin's pigment. This light is found in sunshine and in a tanning bed. Ultraviolet light is the chief cause of three types of skin cancer: melanoma, basil cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The Oklahoman reports that nearly 720 new cases of melanoma are expected to be reported in Oklahoma this year.

We wouldn't let our children smoke in front of us, take drugs, drink in front of us...we wouldn't let them do anything harmful to themselves. Yet if they haven't slathered on the sunscreen when they're at the lake, mowing the lawn, or participating in a sporting event, we are allowing them to do something potentially dangerous. Something potentially deadly.

We kept them protected when they were small. Remind them to protect themselves now. Keep the sun block products readily available. If the skin cancer data doesn't scare them, maybe the future skin damage and wrinkles data will.