The face of possibly dying from melanoma is the one you look at in the mirror everyday. It's no top secret that skin cancer is the most frequent of all cancers, and the most needless of cancers to die from. This is the true story of Del, one young man who unwittingly became part of the reported 50,000-melanoma cancer death statistics. His death was simply, one more skin cancer death, that was totally unnecessary.

Cancers that have non-genetic causes are most avoidable. This means: They are often the consequence of the choices we make; the foods we eat; and the exercise we don't get; and the tests and medical examinations that we put off until "tomorrow." We daily, without thinking, subject ourselves to these well-known probability factors. These choices can do as much, if not more, to both add to or reduce our risk of getting non-genetic cancers. They can be a bigger determiner than our own particular hereditary genetic risks.

Melanoma falls into this preventable category, because it is primarily caused by excessive exposure to the sun. Melanoma is a dangerous and sometimes life-threatening cancer, if not caught by early diagnosis. As soon as melanoma has spread to other parts of the body outside the skin (called metastasis), it is complex to treat and potentially deadly.

I want to share Del's story, because I know that if I paint a picture of who he was, and what he learned too late, maybe you'll be more likely to remember those lessons. In my mind's eye, Del is forever the boy next-door, with the Alvin and the Chipmunks smile, singing "Oo-ee, oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang," forever off-key, forever young, forever here in my heart. Although months older than me, he was my kid brother's best friend, always clowning around, always underfoot. During our childhood and our teens, he was there at our house for dinner every night. He stayed over every weekend, and even worse, he was invited on every vacation or trip we made.

In my then, teen aged mind's eye, he was always annoying, except for when he finished my math homework - or volunteered to be my escape plan to go to places that my dad would never let me go, except with him. He was a dreamer, who dreamed big, as he dreamed of being in the theater. Back then, in my adolescent opinion, he was dumb for joining all those school clubs. He was the ultimate geek, spending his free time on activities like, learning to ballroom dance, joining the pep club, and becoming

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