Articles and News

Woodbury, NY—For the past several years, my best friend battled pancreatic cancer.

Many years of our friendship allowed me behind the curtain of one of the most successful self-made men in the country. My friendship began with him actually being a client, but we quickly became friends as he was in need of a confidant and tastemaker outside of his usual circle of friends.

Many years, many trends, and many girlfriends later, our friendship grew into a place that when it got close to the end for him, I was one of the few put into place for the final arrangements.

Many pieces of jewelry had been purchased through the years for the woman with whom he had spent the last years of his life. Just before Centurion 2013, he had asked me to find her a special bracelet, as he felt it would be the "final gift."  

He hadn't left the hospital since Christmas time. The Thursday morning before Centurion I received a text: “hey bg (I was “Batgirl” to his Batman, and of course there is a Robin) don't think ill make it thru til you get back how bout that….bracelet from........"

Holy ____! Are you kidding? What do you mean, so you’re going to die while I'm gone? And I need to get a bracelet today that I don't sell, and omg, do I go to the hospital or the store to buy it?

So I did what any self-respecting female does: I started to cry.

Then I looked at myself long and hard. Not in the mirror, but inward. You know, when you have to close your eyes in order to see really see. And I saw my family, and my grandparents, and my great grandparents all saying, “This is what matters. This is what we do. We are there at the beginning of life through the life and at the end.”

I didn't go to the hospital. I went shopping.

The bracelet arrived to his love as my best friend passed away. It was actually the same time. It has four diamonds, one for each year they spent together, and one for each year he fought so hard to stay.

Whenever we walk a show floor looking for new merchandise to buy, don't forget how important what we buy actually is: The baby gift to a new mother. The birthday gift. The anniversary gift. The final gift. Most important, the “just because” gift, because you never know.

Lauren Kulchinsky Levison is vice president of Mayfair Jewelers, with two stores in Woodbury and East Hampton, NY.