MINE and I loved it. I felt truly feminine and could hardly wait to show it to the girls at the Club. They all raved about it. Joey, the M.C., had let his grow several years ago. He congratulated me warmly and said, "Some of these other jokers will follow us shortly, now." And some of them did.

Judy asked me one night as I was dressing why I always wore street length dresses while most of the others wore floor length gowns. I laughed and said, "I'm bragging, but I have the prettiest legs in the show so why cover them up?" She agreed that mine were almost as pretty as hers.

On her advice, I now changed my color to color sequences to two week intervals so the steady dying wouldn't ruin my hair. It grew agonizingly slow, but eventually reached my shoulders.

For my birthday, Judy had another surprise for me. After brunch, she handed me an ice cube and told me to hold it to the lobe of my ear. I looked puzzled at her request, but she just smiled and held up a large needle. I had always been a sucker for that smile of hers, so I nodded and did as she had asked. In a few minutes, she pricked my ear with the needle and asked if I could feel it. I said no.

“O.K.,” she said, “hold real still." She pierced my ear and I could feel her doing something with it. I transferred the cube to my other ear, but I felt it when she stuck me. A few minutes later, she tried again. Again, I could feel her doing something, but it didn't hurt.

"Go look," she said.

I looked in the mirror and from two red ear lobes, two small diamonds winked back at me. I ran back into the kitchen and embraced Judy. "Happy Birthday, Honey," she cried, and I could only thank her with a bear hug and a kiss.

Through the months, Judy had worked tirelessly-coaching me in walking, sitting, rising, makeup, hair styling and dressing. She taught me to use her electrolysis probe and the hair was disappearing from my arms and legs. Judy told me that she wanted me to be perfect in my pro- fession and was willing to go to any length to help me. Her efforts paid off, and I was now the highest paid performer at the Club. I occasionally sang at Benefits and my reputation as a performer was growing.

I felt truly feminine because I looked and acted feminine. Judy was proud of me and I was proud of her as a wife and as a companion. We

25