Along with my daily routine of reading the New York Times, is turning to the obituary page to read the “featured” obits- those of famous or note worthy people who have died. These obits can be very interesting, and I am often fascinated by the lives many have led. I will then scan the smaller listings, hoping not to find anyone there I may know. In May of 2006, after turning to that page, staring back at me was the face of a friend. Her smile as it always had been- full and welcoming. I remember gasping and shouting out loud- I was so shocked and taken aback. Today I am thinking about her, as I do every year at this time.
One of the many interesting areas in New York City is the Jewelry District, or Diamond District. It is one block long and stretches from Avenue to Avenue. There are nothing but jewelry shops, and what are called “exchanges”- the ground floor of buildings are filled with booths, each dealer having their own booth to sell their jewelry. The street is a world unto itself. I worked there in the 1980’s and 1990’s, for a man in the wholesale end of the business. I loved the vibrancy of the street, and that we all knew one another. There was a building that housed safes for the dealers to store their goods at night. It was there that I met Caron one evening. Caron was a broker, in her own business, which was unusual in the male dominated diamond business. We were the only women who made the nightly trip to the building with the safe, and often stopped to chat.
It is very difficult to get into the diamond industry with no connections, and Caron didn’t have a diamond background. But she was determined. She went to London where she met someone willing to give her a chance. She was given two diamonds to sell. And she sold them. Then she was given two more diamonds, and she sold them, too. Through much hard work and diligence, she established herself as a broker in New York, eventually working for one of the largest diamond dealers there.
Caron was the only woman to serve on the board of directors of the Diamond Dealers Club, which is the largest diamond trade organization in the United States. It works to support and encourage the growth of the U.S. diamond industry. Her stellar reputation got her elected to the DDC board of directors. Everyone laughed at first because there had never been a woman director, but people trusted her and the good reputation she had built, and voted her in once again after her first four years.
I left the diamond district in the late 1990’s but would bump into Caron occasionally. It was always a pleasure to see her, her smile was infectious, and we enjoyed catching up and sharing a laugh.
And now there she was looking back at me, from the pages of the obituaries. At the age of 50 she had succumbed to the breast cancer that she had told no one but her family about.
Once again it is May, and I think of the ambitious, hardworking, amazing woman I knew. Both business woman, wife, and caring friend to the many she had. It saddens me to think of her life cut short, all the things that still lay ahead for her. She used her time here well though, breaking down the boundaries within the male driven jewelry industry, always there to help her friends, and always ready to share that great smile.
A Day In The Life 
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