A New Year's Wish

On October 25, 2007 my dear friend Tammy lost her husband Bryce to metastatic melanoma. He lived just 100 days from the time he found out his cancer had returned until the day he died. He fought each and every day to extend his life so that he could be around for his wife and to watch his young daughter grow. While doing this he also fought to spread the word about the danger of sun exposure whether it be from natural sunlight or tanning beds. Tammy documented their battle in their blog www.brycedbrown.com and I encourage each of you to please take the time to read it. Go to the first entry (titled Seven years doesn't mean JACK) and read to present day if you can. It is heart-warming and gut-wrenching all at the same time. Tammy is an incredible writer and an amazing woman. Her mission to spread the word about skin cancer and to kick cancer's butt will be a lifelong job. My wish for each of you is to educate yourselves about the true dangers of sun exposure- even incidental sun exposure like when working in your yard or running errands. Slather your children in sunblock. Never, ever fake bake. For pete's sake white and pasty can be sexy if you let it! By the way, Bryce's cancer was first diagnosed seven years ago. They believe it is from all the time spent in the sun working as a lifeguard during high school. If only we knew then what we know now....