By:Angela Marshall
Just a month ago, while attending a charity event at the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center, Andrew Rosenblum's brother asked him how he liked working on the 104th floor.
Mr. Rosenblum said it was fantastic, said he was on top of the world. And by all accounts, he was. Mr. Rosenblum had survived a debilitating illness, had a family he adored, a job that stimulated him and a powerful swing on the golf course.
When a terrorist attack hit the center last week, Mr. Rosenblum, a vice president for Canter Fitzgerald, was with his longtime friend and business partner James Smith of Garden City. The two huddled in a conference room with other employees and called their families, using cell phones. The towers soon crumbled, taking the lives of Mr. Rosenblum and several thousand others. He was 45.
During a memorial service at Temple B'nai Sholom on Sunday, several hundred listened as family members shared their memories of Mr. Rosenblum and celebrated the way he lived his life.
Some took comfort in knowing they had shared their feelings with Mr. Rosenblum during a serious illness he endured.
"I had the chance to tell him how much I loved him," said Adam Rosenblum, Andrew's younger brother. "I'm so glad I was able to tell him that."
Growing up, Adam had been fascinated by his older brother. "It seemed like I always wanted to be like him."
Indeed, Adam had copied much of his brother's behavior. "He went to work on Wall Street. I went to work on Wall Street. He grew a beard. I grew a beard. He married a Jill. I married a Jill."
Each day they talked on the phone, sharing humorous stories and planning practical jokes. Likewise, Mr. Rosenblum kept up a daily exchange of calls from the office with his wife, Jill, and his parents in Florida.
The close-knit family is working hard not to unravel as they deal with the loss of the one thread that bound them all together. Mr. Rosenblum, with his love for laughter and giving nature, was the one person they could all count on in times of trouble. "His magnetic personality made you feel good just to be around him," his brother-in-law said.
Now they seek comfort in each other and the community that has rallied behind them.
Mr. Rosenblum's wife shared the story of meeting her future husband while attending Valley Stream South High School. She was upset that her locker had been broken into and he offered to share his. He would later ask her to share his life as well.
The couple had two boys, Jordan, 14, and Kyle, 11, and they, along with Jill, became the center of his world. Father and sons spent hours watching sports together, sometimes on the television but more often at the games themselves.
An avid golfer, Mr. Rosenblum was thrilled that the boys were finally ready to join him on the greens, his wife said.
As Mrs. Rosenblum described her life with Andrew, friends throughout the temple continued to dab their red-rimmed eyes with tissues already soaked from tears. The Rosenblums would have been married 21 years Nov. 29.
Mr. Rosenblum graduated from SUNY Binghamton in 1978 and Pace Law School in 1981. He left the law to work in the financial arena 18 years ago.
"I love you, Andy. Rest in peace till we meet again," Jill said before rejoining the boys in the first pew.
In addition to being devoted to his family, Mr. Rosenblum was dedicated to helping others. The list of organizations to which he donated time and money is too long to print.
Mr. Rosenblum was also on the board of trustees at the temple.
Rabbi Barry Dov Schwartz said he had rarely seen so many gathered to honor one person. "Your presence here in these numbers attests to how well Andy was liked," he said.
Mr. Rosenblum is also survived by his parents, Barbara and Jason Rosenblum, and a large extended family.
