Rothblum: Dad loved it here
Letter to the editor
My beloved father, Philip Rothblum, would be 100 years old on Feb. 28. Instead, he died at age 98 on Aug. 1, 2021 in his apartment New York City. This should have been the notice I placed in The Aspen Times, but my grief was too great to get it together.
My folks took my sister and me to Aspen in 1968, when she and I were still in our teens. I recall the dirt roads, Audi police cars, little or no traffic lights, and very little development. No fancy stores or people. Aspen Square was just built and my folks bought a unit there and a couple more as the years passed. It was our first home away from home.
My dad adored Aspen. He skied every day, and biked to Pine Creek Cookhouse or the Bells in the off-season. He was an avid hiker, just like a billy goat. He showed off the different skis he used for each terrain and weather condition, and his titanium bike, as if he were a toddler showing off his first truck. He was actually giddy there.
My father bought the last open lot in the Core and built the stunning house at 624 East Hopkins, complete with a red door, his sculptures outside (made at Andersen Ranch), and a huge two-story window overlooking Ajax. He built a lower level to accommodate my family when we visited. It was the center of our universe.
After his death, with hesitancy and pain, especially to my younger daughter, we sold the house to a family whom I can only hope loves it as much as we did. With every change they make to it, it pulls on my heartstrings. I had always imagined retiring to Aspen in that house.
Happy birthday, Dad. I love you.
Lisa Rothblum
New York City
