Samuel Cohen-Eckstein

   William Goldberg 813

     Recently, in the small well-off neighborhood of Park Slope, a tragedy almost too saddening to describe occurred. At roughly 5:15pm on October 8th 2013, 12 year old Samuel Cohen-Eckstein was struck by a van at the intersection of Prospect Park West and 3rd street. Needless to say, many in the area are grieving for this unlucky child. Sam was running into the street in order to get a ball that had rolled away from him. Supposedly, when he got to the ball he tripped and fell on his back right when the dreaded van decided to come along and drive over his body. It was not a hit and run, the driver stayed there and didn't drive off. It's depressing to think that if Sam hadn't tripped he'd most likely still be here with us today. But death found its way, and it always will. Sammy was bouncing the ball against a Prospect Park monument near the entrance. He was only a month away from having his bar mitzva for which he had been preparing for months. He was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital on arrival from excessive torso damage. As a once close friend of Sammy, I too am one of the grievers.
     It's hard to believe how quickly a bar mitzva can turn into a funeral. How one second life is there and is under your grasp, and then another it slips away and leaves you in the darkness. What were his final words? His last thoughts? Did he think that he was going to die? If so, what did he think the effects would be on his friends and family as well as the community he was a big part of? These are all questions that are left in the mind of people who knew him and need to know these things for closure. He was kind, intelligent, and funny. Qualities you'd love to see in every person you see. The unfairness of a 12 year old leaving this world too early is still lingering in the air and will always stay there. Why him? Why so young? "God works in mysterious ways." I hope that he's where I believe he belongs up in Heaven. I've shared many cherished moments with him and I'm sure that many others have as well. I would just like to say to his family...sorry, his friends...sorry, to everyone who has ever known or seen Sammy...sorry. Unfair things happen in this world way too often and sadly, it seems there is no way to prevent those kinds of tragedies. So all I have to say for now is I hope he's happy where he is right now.

     I will leave you with this...