Please Protect Your Skin

Tomorrow is a memorial 5K that we ran last year.

Almost 2 years ago my Hubby's very dear friend passed away from Melanoma. He was 39 years old and left behind a wife and 3 children under the age of 10. It was a very sad time. The Rotary that his father is in has a Father's Day 5K every year...and last year it was named the Kevin A Brue Melanoma Awareness Father's Day 5K. And this year they are doing it again. This year Ryan AND Logan are running the 1 mile fun run. Logan saw a little friend of his from school running a 1 mile a few weeks ago that Ryan was running, and has it in his head that he can do it too. He is 3. Hubby will be flying along with Ryan in a 8 min/mile pace and I will be dragging along with our little guy. I hope we can finish in less than a half an hour so I can get to the 5K. LOL!!

It will be a tough day. I still can't believe it's been 2 years since he passed. I am proud to say the wife of another friend of Kevin's will be running her very first 5K tomorrow! I know he'd be proud.

Please please please wear sunblock. Everyday. Drench your kids in sunblock. Any color can damage your skin. Even a 'nice tan' can do damage. Another friend of mine has had cancer cut out of her body a few times this year. But she was lucky, everything that was cut out was early enough. It never made it to another organ. Kevin didn't have that time. By the time he got his spot on his back checked, it was too late. They tried everything.

So, my second please please please, is to get to a dermatologist and get ALL your freckles checked.  A mom of a girls in Ryan's class in Kindergarden had a spot on the back of her leg. She showed it to me right around the time that Kevin was starting hospice. She went and got it checked after I told her his story, and it turned out to be melanoma!! He literally saved her life! One spot removed might just save your life!!!!

I buy my boys UV Skinz every year. They are never outside without a shirt. We pride ourselves and being whiter than white. No child should ever know what a sunburn feels like. It breaks my heart when I hear friends tell me they went to the tanning salon. Because I can promise you, Kevin's family wishes he NEVER got sunburn, always wore a shirt and was still here with them today.

Kevin was an avid runner. The very last big race that he ran was the Marine Corps Marathon. He ran it 7 months before he died. His time was 3:35. He was FAST! He also thought, at that time, he had beat the melanoma. It was a short 4 months after the race that he learned it has spread to his brain and he didn't have much time left. That is why Hubby signed up for it last year and a huge reason he is running it this year. The MCM is Oct 28. That is my Hubby's 40th birthday.
....A birthday that Kevin never got to see.