Grief & Gratitude

‘Grief and Gratitude’

This was the subject line of an invitation to honor my dear friend Shaune Bazner, who passed away on September 28th, 2023. The occasion this past weekend was to give voice to our individual and collective grief for Shaune’s passing and to express our gratitude for the extraordinary person she was and is to each of us – her closest family and friends.

Shaune and I met in the fall of 1978, when she was starting her hair accessory company – Mei Fa Hairstyx. I had just returned from the proverbial cross country trip in a VW van, with 2 dogs and a boyfriend. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to restart my silver/goldsmithing business and in a moment that changed the course of my life, I decided to work with Shaune after our fateful meeting in a Westport, CT restaurant.

Shaune was a dancer and she developed a myriad of hair styles that could be held securely with just 2 styx. I was the production team of 1 and my job was to file points on wood dowling so they could be painted and beaded. Shaune was the creative genius and beautiful face of the company. Each day she demonstrated the versatility of her Mei Fa hairstyx at Fiorucci – the coolest Italian Emporium in NYC. They were so successful there that the head of Bloomingdales invited her to have her own Mei Fa counter on the store’s main floor. Those were the days of retail theatrics. It was a circus and Shuane was the mistress of ceremonies, commanding 50 or more women at a time who waited in line to have their hair wound up with Mei Fa hairstyx. Talk about good Feng Shui! The business boomed and anyone with 3” of hair left with a new ‘do’ and a great feeling about themselves.

In 1980 I moved to San Francisco and became Shaune’s first sales rep. I had no idea what I was doing but in time Macys, Nordstroms, I. Magnum and tons of boutiques in the Bay Area carried Mei Fa. Shaune’s beauty, grace and creativity carried the company forward, expanding into glass and semi precious necklaces and earrings.

In 1987 I decided to move to NYC. By then Mei Fa had sales reps around the country, and after 3 years of trying to figure out what was next for me, Shaune and I joined forces again and took the company – now called Shaune Bazner Accessories – to greater heights incorporating home accessories into the collection.

Shaune continued her business after I left the company in 1999 to pursue my 3rd career as a Feng Shui design consultant. Please read her obituary discover more of her talents as a fine art painter, mother and athlete. There is no way to comprehend the loss of such beautiful soul and beloved friend of 45 years. But I am ever so grateful for every loving, silly, difficult and profound moment we shared. And so, so grateful to have shared the spectacular journey of Mei Fa together.

(Btw, the picture of Shaune & me is from the mid-90s ;=)

This is certainly a time of much grief in our world.
Yet, I know we do not have too dig to deep to remember
all the people in our lives we are grateful for.

May your holiday be blessed with loving connections,
and May Peace Prevail on Earth

Judith / Sacred Currents