FORT SILL, Okla., July 14, 2016 -- Dermatologists, sunscreens, warnings of peak sun exposure: these are all facts of life these days, but I remember the days this wasn't the case, and that memory includes the loss of my mother to melanoma when she was 43.

Being a strawberry blonde with Swedish bloodlines, my mom was definitely fair-skinned. Despite this inclination to sunburn easily, as a young woman she "worshipped" the sun lying out in a bathing suit, probably coated with coconut oil. Everyone did that back then, or used baby oil to help enhance a "healthy" tan. Such was the belief in the early 1950s.

Even when I came along in the 1960s, the thought was to get a good burn or two then a base tan would result. I recall some painful nights spent with a fan in the window blowing cool air over my sun-reddened skin. Sunscreen had yet to be invented. Instead a cute, blonde girl on a suntan lotion bottle showed how using this product would produce a deep, lustrous bronze tan.

Despite these creams, I just burned and peeled.

Sometime in the mid-60s, skin cancer became a reality for my older brothers and father when my mother saw a doctor about an irritated mole on her neck. That tiny speck of sun-damaged skin turned out to be cancerous, and so began a series of surgeries and times apart as treatment required her to stay in a hospital about an hour's drive from home.

For me, growing up as a pseudo-orphan in friends' homes, my time in the sun became a frequent use of sun umbrellas and long sleeve shirts. Despite this, trips to the Lake Michigan shoreline were common in summer along with days spent on the golf course. Most of this activity occurred during the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. peak burning hours, something that still wasn't known and so I still likely got sunburns.

Cancer took my mom in 1977 about the time the first sunscreens became available. Though I was crushed and miss her to this day, I did have 10 years with her, which I was thankful for.

Those early sunscreens I recall had a habit of staining my favorite shirts and so I didn't use them much.

Eventually though technology caught up with this threat along with my habit of wearing pants and long sleeve shirts when I went swimming or played golf.

Now, I regularly visit the dermatology clinic to verify moles and lesions on my skin haven't turned cancerous. I'm thankful for reaching an age far beyond that of my mom, but I know decades old damage could still affect me. To help increase my chances of staying around a few more decades I stay out of the sun during peak hours and wear sunhats and other protection as often as I can.

It's possible my days may draw to a close early due to the lack of awareness during my early years.

Fortunately, for most everyone else those days have passed and now a wealth of information is available to help people avoid what could be a very harmful sunburn ... or worse.