Fitter Kathy Garrison fondly remembers a childhood where she was free to be a tomboy. This meant she got to ride her bike, roller skate and spend hours playing on a Tarzan swing the kids had concocted. She and her friends would pack a lunch and spend the whole day outside. Every parent knew what everyone else's children were doing in the little suburb of Pittsburg called West Mifflin. Those were idyllic times, so it's no wonder Kathy has spent her life devoted to her community and its people.

(pictured at right: Kathy Garrison, sitting, and Joanne Evans, standing)

When asked how she became a fitter, Kathy responds, "I am a 25 year breast cancer survivor, and pretty much from the time I had my very first fitting, I knew this was something I wanted to do. It was devastating to have a breast removed. I'm a very shy person and didn't want anyone to see me, so I would make do and make myself look as good as possible. My sister-in-law convinced me that I needed to be fitted for a prosthesis. I finally did it and realized that I felt good again. I was fascinated with the entire process. I had worked in an orthodontist's office for a while and handled their insurance. In fact, I met my business partner, Joanne Evans in that setting. She wanted to start a business and I told her I thought I had an idea.

"She had done fittings before and I had the insurance know-how, so things just fell into place. Even our location was sort of pre-destined – because her husband is a chiropractor who had an office space available. That was 20 years ago and our partnership is still a perfect fit.

"In the very beginning I thought working as a fitter might be a constant reminder of what I'd gone through. It turned out to be just the opposite. It was so nice to talk to people and be an example," Kathy says. "I proved to them they could be okay. I've had two recurrences in the scar tissue. The first was about two years to the day of my original surgery, and then I had another one year after that. At that point I was really shaken to the core. I think having dealt with breast cancer the way I have – and having survived – really helps me and our customers."

Kathy's children were just eight and ten at the time, and when she looks back she sometimes feels like she did everything wrong. "They survived my ordeal, but we didn't tell them what was going on and I think my daughter resented it a little bit. She has had a couple of cancer scares herself, so I think she better understands why I wasn't quick to want to burden my kids with something out of their control and ability to understand."

In the 20 years she's been in business, Kathy has seen lots of change in the industry. "The fun part of the job is that the bras are so pretty now! Even the bathing suits are fashionable. The breast forms keep getting better and better due to all of the new technology. My first form was very heavy and never exactly matched the other side. Now you can match up almost anyone. We've created an atmosphere at K & J's Complete Woman which allows women to feel very comfortable and at ease. We have created a living room area where we can sit and talk to women when they come in. Many newly diagnosed woman are really upset, so this provides us with a place to try to make them feel at home. Our fitting rooms look sort of like a bedroom.

"Joanne is one of those people who can get people talking and relaxed, which is a great asset. We always go with the flow. We're never in a hurry. We wait for what we call the 'Ahhh factor,' which is the moment when you put the bra on a woman and get the breast form situated just right and watch as her shoulders relax and she realizes she looks like she did before her surgery. This is such an important moment, because so many women don’t believe it will ever happen." K & J's Complete Woman carries a full line of bras, prostheses, swimsuits and wigs for their customers.

Kathy has had the pleasure of seeing many of her customers come back once or twice a year every year. "People are surviving," she says, "So you see them the rest of their lives. I never thought about that in the beginning. We have a lot of customers who have become friends. We also have a lot of great stories!

"It's always amazed me how creative some women can be. When we first opened we'd have women who'd had their surgery many, many years ago. They didn't realize insurance would cover a lot of the things they needed, so they would improvise. We had one woman who was somewhat heavy who used fiber fill in her bra and created some suspender-like contraption to hold her bra down in place."

As she reminisces, Kathy warmly recalls, "We had a woman who had to be in her 70s who had been widowed for a number of years. She always wore a little tube sock in her bra filled with lima beans. She looked okay, maybe a little bumpy, but it worked for her. She called us one day and asked all kinds of questions because she had met a man and he was going to take her dancing. She was afraid he would feel the lima beans. She was the cutest thing you would ever want to see, and I was glad to be able to help! We were able to put her into a pocketed bra and everything looked and felt just fine."

Kathy and husband Dick have been married for 40 years and are very proud of their two grown children, Kristin and Richard. Kristin runs a Vision Quest camp and Richard is a Pittsburg police officer. Kathy is very proud of him, but says, "You don’t go to bed at night without making sure he's okay. You are proud of his involvement – but sometimes you wish he had become an accountant!"

In addition to her work at the shop, life at the moment finds Kathy caring for her mother who has been ill for the past couple of months. "I'm in that sandwich generation, so I'm taking care of my mom. She's a widow and has never driven, so for years I would take her to doctor's appointments and shopping – even on gambling gambits which were great fun. She's in a nursing home now, so I'm trying to be very sensitive to her needs. It's so difficult watching your parents' health diminish. When I have some time for myself, I love to play bridge – actually that's a passion of mine. I also do lots of crossword puzzles and really enjoy a good book when I can find some quiet time to read."

You can bet when Kathy does have a well deserved moment for herself it truly is one of those 'Ahhh factors' she knows so well!