Fun Time in the Summertime…

Blog by CJay Smith, CEC

My mother was a teacher and a nurse; a teacher before I was born, then a nurse in my formative years and beyond. To this day, I still joke with my friends back home that while they were reading Cat in the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham, I was reading the PDR (the Physicians’ Desk Reference). I can see my mother studying for Nursing School and having this mauve colored book with gold lettering that had pictures of different colored pills, and what each pill did and how the body reacts to them. One of her other study books was this big brown book that had glossy pages of the human muscle and skeletal system. It showed tissue, bones, and everything associated with anatomy and physiology. Can you imagine the conversations I had with my friends at recess??  So having a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education with a focus on the community comes as no surprise to me or to others who knew my mom and now know me.

Having all that knowledge about health from a very young age, one would think that I would not have spent so many years participating in outside sports like track and field, softball, and volleyball and not have worn a hat/cap, sunglasses, sunscreen, or even chap-stick, but I did. Looking back I see me running, jumping, and playing outside, and never a thought about any of these protective items. Oh, if only we knew then what we know now…

Now I’m all grown up and living in beautiful, sunny Colorado, and one thing I had to learn was our state's proximity to the sun and what that could mean for my “maturing skin.” As beautiful as our sunny weather is, I’ve learned to protect myself from too such sun exposure. So as I get ready for perhaps my last picnic before our fall season, I remember my sunscreen, chap-stick, hat, and sunglasses. So take it from me, it’s never too late to start taking measures to protect your skin.

Witty, Charming, Intellectual, Energetic, just a few words one could use to describe the many facets of CJay Smith. As Speaker Extraordinaire, CJay uses visualization and humor to deliver refreshing real life every day situational conversations designed to inspire, uplift, and educate. Conversations designed for young adults through the senior years.