The summer season provides an array of specialties to quell the anxieties and boredom brought about by the school year and colder months. Longer days and warmer temperatures are just two of the many qualities summer encompasses. I have been lucky enough to maintain a consistent and ongoing summer fling to ail my free time during the warmer months.

It was summer that originally introduced me to the ever-beaming and always glowing Sun. I immediately fell for the Sun’s warm embrace and the Sun quickly displayed its affection for me. My heart, via my skin, burned after we spent an exuberant amount of time together and then were forced to part ways. I was even given cute pet names, such as lobster, redneck and tomato, to remind me of how much I was loved by the center of my universe.

We have truly been there for each other, in both sickness and health. Through sun-poisoning (multiple times per summer), blisters and dehydration (among other side effects of sunburn), the Sun never ceased to remind me of its presence. Even when cloudy weather threatened to keep us apart, I still received affectionate redness from the Sun.

The greatest quality about the Sun is that it never tries to change me. My pale complexion and Irish roots enable me to be the perfect home for freckles and, yes, sunburn; however, I never change skin tones because of the Sun. I stay pale! After the initial redness fades, I return to my natural, pale skin tone. We also have a lot of fun together. We play this game where I will wear a shirt with a unique back, a fun bracelet or new necklace, and the Sun will color around the lines of my shirt or the borders of my jewelry! The Sun truly makes me out to be a work of art.

I must confess, though: I have recently attempted to break things off with the light of my life. Many people have insisted our relationship is toxic, and I am beginning to agree. I have tried everything to thwart the Sun’s endeavors to brand me with its rays. Protection attempts have come in all sorts of shapes and bottles. No matter how hard I try, though, the Sun always manages to get to me. If I nap too close to a window, or if I venture out and do not make it back before the clock strikes noon (that is when the sun gets stronger), I find myself in the Sun’s grasp once more.

Fortunately, I am making strides to live a life in harmony with the Sun. I need not be concerned with avoiding it entirely, though, because I know I am happier with it in my life. The key is to focus on my own well-being. Possibly by buying more hats...and sunscreen.