Shaun O’Malley I was born of Irish-American parents in 1936 in western Pennsylvania. My dad worked in the steel mills, and my mom ran a little coffee shop. Both my parents had skin cancer before they were 60.
0-19 years I was a good student in school but always preferred to be outdoors rather than cooped up inside doing homework. I loved any type of sports, especially baseball. When I was in high school, I started working in a construction crew in the summer. Because of my fair skin, I got lots of bad sunburns, but I didn’t really care. ·	20-39 years I continued working in construction after I finished high school. Soon I was a foreman and making enough money to get married. My wife and I both enjoyed socializing; on Friday nights, I especially enjoyed hanging out in the local bar where I would play darts and watch TV. We had two kids, both with fair skin and freckles like their dad.
40-59 years I started gaining weight when I was in my 40s, not bad but a little, and my wife started nagging me about seeing a doctor. When I was 45, to make my wife happy, I finally went for a check-up. All the doctor found was that my blood pressure was a little high. She gave me medication for that and cautioned me to continue getting my exercise. When I was 57, my wife started nagging me again, this time about some moles and freckles on my neck, and shoulders that she thought were suspicious looking. I went back to the doctor again, but this time, she referred me to a dermatologist. Sure enough, my wife was right: Several of them were cancerous and had to be removed.	60+ years Now that I understand about skin cancer, I go for regular check-ups. So far, I haven’t had another problem, but I’m not taking any chances. I also have started nagging my children about wearing sunscreen and about seeing that their children do too.