Give Back Series: 3000 BC Spa
Janine Slater witnessed these women fighting...standing by her grandmother's side during her battle with ovarian cancer. It eventually took her life. But not before leaving Janine with an important purpose. As Lauren Johnson explains... the journey has been fulfilling.
Janine Slater remembers, "She was tiny and feisty, and loud and loving."
Gran was what she called her... but Gran was more like mom.
"She raised me my whole life." Her life suddenly changed, in the blink of an eye. "We found out it was stage 4 ovarian [cancer]."
The cancer spread quickly through her body.
"It was really difficult. She didn't know day from night. She started having seizures. She needed transfusions. She was in and out of the hospital. Watching what she went through, but also being at the hospital, and watching so many people come in, it really affects you. Day after day, you see people all sick with cancer, and they're fighting for their lives," Slater remembers.
Her "Gran" lost her fight in 2001 but not before a sort of quirky promise between the two.
Janine smiles, "She makes me laugh when I think about it cause she really made me promise not to let them take her to bury her without her brows being fixed."
Janine kept her promise, and took it a step further. Gran also left her with money that Janine used to get certified in cosmetic and corrective makeup.
"She would be very proud. She could cry...she would."
Tears of joy, of course, knowing her granddaughter has become a blessing to so many women. This busy mother of four recently added microblading to her resume. The procedure is also called eyebrow embroidery, and it can help restore what cancer treatments have taken away. The special pen draws draw on individual strokes, one by one. Janine moves slow and precise for two hours.
"It really makes me happy that they feel truly good about themselves."
The effects are long-lasting, up to two years for some. But, the happiness Janine feels will last a lifetime. Some of her clients are cancer survivors, and champions of a disease that sometimes steals your hair!
"As much as I try to help someone else, I get that much out of it. Afterwards, if they win, they deserve to feel really good. and that's what I want to try to do."
Something as simple a few strokes that leave a much bigger mark."