In the Beginning

In the beginning… Sitting in fifth grade Bible Study last night this sweet boy is teaching me about the first few words of the Bible… How innocent and so simple. Of course, this caused me to stop and look at my journey, and what a journey this has been.

Life has so many winding roads and I feel so blessed for them to lead me here, right here, right now, right where I am supposed to be. While attending University of Houston, knowing 100% I was supposed to be a teacher lead me to teach at two different, VERY different, schools. I went from teaching 8th grade at a Jewish Orthodox school to teaching Pre-K at a Methodist preschool – from a student worrying about my faith to signing Jesus Loves me all day long.  While relearning all of my colors and ABC in Spanish and English, America was going through really hard times, 911. More on this later.

Growing up with a Grandmother as an Esthetician, who owned her own product line, we ALL have had great skin and always been product junkies!!! When I was younger, and my older sister was off at camp, my parents would send me to live with my grandparents and Aunt. I loved it! I would go work in my grandmother’s shop and watch her change the ladies that came in. I say change because I am not sure there is a different word. These ladies would need a lot of help with their skin, but they needed to feel better – not only on how they looked but how they felt. My grandmother knew just what to do.

She would make them over, give them a facial, all new makeup, a new person. She didn’t charge for her services, just her product called Sallye Jean Cosmetics! As a young girl I was enchanted with the fact that my grandmother had her own line. One that she had a chemist make just for her to help these poor women feel better.  And that… that was her tag line…. Stay happy and you will be beautiful. That easy, that simple… But it wasn’t.

As I said earlier, our country was going through hard times. While we were trying to understand what was going on, my Aunt informed us that she had lung cancer. We were devastated on so many levels. We moved her to Houston and in with me so that we could see what kind of treatment we could get her in at MD Anderson.

My Aunt was ill and I was teaching – always thinking my Aunt would carry on the Sallye Jean Cosmetics line. Once we knew that this was the last battle my Aunt had to fight, the family decided I needed to know more about skin.  That’s just what I did. I went back to school and LOVED it. Sadly, I learned how hard it is to compete with all these big lines. Still loving product and loving skin, and wanting to help others the way my grandmother did, I finished school and Opened Clarity Day Spa. I can’t think of a better way to end all my blogs than how my beautiful grandmother lived her life.

Stay Happy and you will be Beautiful!