A Labor of Love - By GeeGee Morgan - Tribune

As the final touches were made, Mildred Goldberg of Boca Point was handed a mirror.

"Oh, I could never do that. I LOVE IT! You gave me an eyebrow arch. It looks so natural."

Anxiously waiting in the cozy front room was her husband, Irving Goldberg.

He asked to come back for a final approval. "Mildred, it looks great, so natural. Did it hurt?"

"No, not really," she replied.

Gee Gee Morgan, permanent makeup technician and self-described perfectionist, said "Let me do one more thing," as she artfully sketched in a soft, dark brown eyeliner on Mildred. As Mildred looked in the mirror she was impressed even more.

"It makes my eyes more defined and my eyelashes look thicker and longer."

Irving turned to Gee Gee and said, "You do love your work, she looks great! Do you have the time to do her eyeliner?"

"Please," Mildred said, "I would be so gratified."

Mildred has been diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease. She is now blind in her left eye and her right eye is starting to fail. Her estitician, Janet Robbins of Estitica Institute in Palm Beach Gardens, referred Mildred, after a successful procedure of her own, knowing that this would help her with her everyday troublesome routine of trying to apply her eye makeup.

Afterwards, as Mildred and Irving were leaving, Irving gave Gee Gee a big hug and kiss, and said, "You have made us so happy. It's worth every dime."

"I don't know what I'm going to tell my grandchildren," Mildred said as she also gave Gee Gee a warm hug and a smile. Gee Gee replied, "There is not that old-fashioned stigma that there used to be, and more women, from movie stars to your friends, have Permanent Makeup. When done natural and done well, you can't even tell.

"Tell them Grandma got a tattoo, and guess where it is!"

A month later, on Mildred's scheduled follow-up, touch-up appointment, Gee Gee asked how did it go? Mildred replied, "It looks so natural, everyone thinks I got up early to put on some makeup. Can we schedule to do my lips next week?"

While playing at her usual bridge game, Mildred's best friend leaned over and whispered, "You did it didn't you? You got permanent makeup… You look fantastic!"

Mildred just smiled.