To make the most meaningful difference, we will donate 30% of our profits to selected cancer causes.

Imagine wearing an exquisite Susanna Leigh handcrafted sterling silver pendant from The Evelyn Pearl Collection while raising money for women and their families battling breast cancer. This collection is inspired by the natural beauty and healing powers of rose quartz and amethyst stones, and adorned with Swarovski® pearls and sterling silver wire wrapping. The Evelyn Pearl Collection is named for my dear friend, Evelyn Pearl Meyerson, who lost her battle with breast cancer on December 20, 2015.

Throughout the ages, rose quartz is believed to emit the strong vibration of unconditional love, joy, faith, and hope. Amethyst is known for its unique healing powers.  What a coincidence that rose quartz and amethyst happen to be pink and purple!

The Story of Evelyn

Providence smiled upon me when I met Evelyn. While on a cruise, I decided to take a lazy day wandering around the unremarkable shops on Grand Cayman Island while my husband went scuba diving. It was the perfect time to just breathe in the warm island air, laden with humidity and the pungent smell of the sea. Born with no apparent sense of direction, I left my cabin heading in the wrong direction to exit the ship. Lost in thought, I was startled by a man’s voice.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m headed to the gangway.”

“Those are the wrong elevators. Follow me.”

The voice was Milton’s, a heavy set Jewish man whose face was permanently set in a contented smile. Small wisps of hair sprinkled on his mostly bald head were hardly a reminder of the generous pompadour that originally attracted Ev to him more than fifty years ago. His laugh lilted unexpectedly… deep and effortless from what I would soon learn was his overly generous heart. He was proudly wearing a cap that read, ‘You da Grandpa.’ I smiled at all that was Milton Irving Meyerson.

“My wife, Evelyn, would love you.” Milton said seemingly out of the blue. “You really have to meet her.”

I had said so little to Milton. I wondered what he meant. He was seventy-eight and I was forty-eight. What could he have possibly seen in me that would interest his wife?  I said I was looking forward to meeting her.

“Good,” he said. “She’s waiting for me below.”

I followed Milton down the gangway. Standing with a plaid bag in her hand stood Evelyn Pearl Meyerson, a beautiful, blond woman, perfectly coifed, patiently waiting for her husband. Her face was illuminated with a simple smile, presumably at nothing in particular except for a glorious, island day.

“Hey Ev, I have someone I want you to meet.”

Somehow he sensed a force so subtle, yet so powerful, that it would change my life forever.

“What are you doing today?” asked Evelyn.

“Just taking a walk around town.”

“Then, you’ll join us. We’re doing a little shopping, too.”

On a van headed into town, I learned Evelyn and I were both going to the Cleveland Clinic right after the cruise to get second opinions on hard to treat health problems. “Is that a coincidence or what?” Ev shouted across the crowded van. “She’s going to the Cleveland Clinic, too.”

Maybe it was on the ride into town, or while we shopped together that I realized I loved her. As I think back, it may have been the moment I saw her standing alone by the big ship, smiling at nothing more special than being alive.

Evelyn and I became instantly inseparable. The same things made us laugh, stupid things we couldn’t possibly explain to anyone else. When I watched her chuckle with glee, I laughed harder. We talked and talked. For hours and hours. We never once ran out of things to say.

One day, I called Evelyn to chat. I just wanted to hear her voice, always cheery, always glad to hear from me. I was blue and needed a dose of Ev.

“Well hello,” she answered with what would become her familiar, truly genuine cheer in her voice.

“How are you?” she asked.

“I’m okay,” trying to match her ever-present enthusiasm.

“No you’re not, I can hear it in your voice. Tell me how you really feel!”

Evelyn could always tell how I was, no matter how many miles separated us, no matter how hard I tried to disguise it. I talked. She listened. She talked. I listened. It was the first time I had ever stripped myself bare to someone else without the fear of leaving myself naked.

“You’re gonna be all right. You know how I know? Because you are me and I am you. Only I’m seventy two and you’re forty eight. I’m not smarter, but I am wiser. I’ve already learned the lessons you still need to learn.” She had figured out life, and saw it with crystal clarity. Evelyn Pearl Meyerson was the essence of wisdom, culture and style.

Through Evelyn’s eyes, I felt proud of myself. I knew someone loved me unconditionally with no boundaries. When she called me ‘darling,’ I let the tenderness of her words seep into my heart. Warm tears of gratitude will always wet my eyes when I think of her. I am appreciative of every minute I got to spend with her. Still, my stubborn feelings of loss refuse to go away.

Soon after I met Evelyn, I learned that Milton’s sense of direction was worse than mine. Yet, somehow, on that glorious day in the brilliant sunlight on a faraway island, among thousands of other travelers, he somehow knew to take me to my irreplaceable friend, Ev.

Please help me honor my remarkable friend by purchasing a piece of jewelry from The Evelyn Pearl Collection. It will help me fulfill my promise to her that I would help put an end to breast cancer once and for all.