Seth

Most of you know that I spent ten years as a chaptor advisor in South Jersey Region AZA. My chapter was the Marlcrest Muchachos #2149. These ten years were some of the more rewarding and fulfilling of my life. The aspect of the whole experience that I never expected was the lasting relationships that I would forge during those years. To this day, I am still very much in touch with about a dozen of my "old kids" and Deb is in touch with a bunch of her girls as well.

This past Tuesday, there was a terrible tragedy in Hoboken, NJ. There was an apartment fire that displaced 40 families and took a young man's life. That man was Seth Dembowitz.

Click here for the story.

Seth Dembowitz was the older of two of the most charismatic brothers I've ever met. The other being his younger brother, Adam. Seth was of one of the first Godols (Presidents) in our chapter history. He made his mark as a strong leader and showed skills well beyond his years. Deb and I had a special relationship with Seth because he was dating one of Deb's girls (Elise Lipoff) and the two of them were the sweethearts of our region for awhile. We remember one specific evening when we invited Seth and Elise to our apartment for a double date. Deb cooked dinner for the four of us and it was a night I never forgot.

Seth went on to become President of his college Fraternity at Rutgers and continued to hone his leadership skills in recent years working for several large companies in New York City while living in Hoboken.

The news hit Deb and I like a ton of bricks. If we were in NJ, all of the BBYO kids from back in the day would have been at our house grieiving and talking about Seth. We especially hurt for Adam, who had become almost like a son to us over the years and who was very close with his brother, especially in recent years.

The funeral was today. Deb is in on a business trip in Malibu and I am here with the kids, unable to travel east. Plus I'm just over a weeklong battle with what the doctor called "mild pneumonia". Probably could not fly anyway. I heard the ceremony was beautiful. There were about a dozen Marlcrest guys there to represent, which was nice to hear.

So that's been my day. Getting over being sick, single dad for six days, unable to fly to PA for a funeral that I really should have been at and now Hannah is sick with a fever. Somebody throw me a bone!

Oh yeah and the flippin' Giants had to win the Superbowl too....

Rest in Peace, Seth Dembowitz...one of the greatest Muchachos in history....