It’s Melanoma Monday, a day set aside each year to help raise awareness about the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

With the calendar hitting May and summer quickly approaching, that means sales of sunscreen will be ratcheting up with beach weather hitting its peak season.

I’ve always been thankful that I was born with my mother’s skin…she has a darker skin tone that tans, and never had skin cancer in her life.  My late father, on the other hand, had very fair skin.  That, compounded with extensive sun exposure when he was stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico during World War II, caused him all sorts of problems later in life.  He had several skin cancers removed from his head, face and ears, and many, many other pre-cancerous lesions proactively removed.  It seemed like every few months he was coming home from the dermatologist with bandages all over his face and scalp.