When I was a kid, I spent every summer at the pool. Maybe not all day, every day, but definitely several afternoons a week – and usually one day every weekend. My mom relaxed in a lounge chair, sipping iced tea, as my sister and I splashed and turned flips underwater and did handstands and tried to see who could hold her breath the longest. My dad joined us on Saturdays, and we played catch and did tricks off the diving board and had water-gun fights. We were brown and freckled from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and I remember at least one bright green streak in Betsy’s blonde hair from all that chlorine.
I don’t get as much sun these days – so I tend to burn when I’m out in the sun for too long. But I’ve become more vigilant about wearing sunscreen, after my sun-loving mom had melanoma in situ a couple of years ago. (She’s fine now. But it was scary, to say the least.)
As the weather warms up and we all head outside, do yourself a favor and watch the powerful video below – and then pass it on to someone you love. And slap on some sunscreen before that next picnic or day at the pool.
cakes, tea and dreams 
Thanks for posting this, Katie. I will share it on my blog, too.
This PSA totally freaked me out the first time I saw it. I took a spot to my dad (a physician) right away and he reassured me . . . it’s just an AGE SPOT! Geez. I did think it would be ironic for me to have skin cancer since we’ve been applying SPF 30 – at least – since we were old enough to read! And we were forbidden to enter a tanning bed under ANY circumstances. Now, of course, I’m thankful.
Yea, no joke. This spring my husband had a cancerous chunk of his nose cut off – at age 40! I work in a cancer hospital and was already a little bit of a lecturer but you can bet I’m a beast now – to all our friends. I call him my Cancer Poster Boy (in the most loving way).
This validates my paranoia about letting my daughter go outside without sunscreen!
Meaning I DON’T!
I’m proud to say my new husband and I spent a whole week on a lovely sunny island, and we both returned home without a tan or even a little pink! We are (kinda sadly) still both just as pale…but I know our water-proof SPF 50 spray-on sunblock must have been worth the $7 we spent to protect ourselves. Thanks for sharing this video!
[…] toenail polish. 2. Dresses, skirts, shorts and bare legs. 3. A bit of healthy tan, though I wear the sunscreen religiously. 4. Fresh fruits – raspberries, blackberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches. […]