And to think I used to be a Sun Worshipper ...

Through my teens and early twenty's, I worked as a lifeguard, and later as the Water Front Director, at a YMCA Camp near home. If I appreciate my Mother for anything most, it's that she kept me in my weekly swimming classes, and enrolled me in a week-long lifeguard training program when I was 17.

I didn't know what to expect going into the training class. I thought there would be a lot more kids my age there -- but it was mostly adults, except for two other teenage girls my age (Debbie Hackett from Merrimack and Amy Miller from Nashua). I developed a steadfast crush on Amy Miller (which never amounted to anything, regrettably). Debbie Hackett developed a steadfast crush on me (which never amounted to anything, thankfully). The three of us became great summertime friends for that and several summers to follow.

After we passed our lifeguard certification, we all signed up to be swimming instructors / lifeguards at Camp Sargent. What a GREAT job that was. The three of us would spend hours just lounging on the wooden dock between classes -- talking about all the things teenagers talk about. I never once put on sunblock. In fact, I remember slathering baby oil on my skin from time to time, to intensify the tan, rather than use sunscreen to block it. I would get so dark during the summer, you'd hardly recognize my pale-skinned heritage!

Today, I hide from the sun. I'm almost always wearing a T-shirt and hat, and the parts of me that are exposed are screened in the heaviest SPF 45+. /sigh, I miss my reckless youth.