felipeFounder

Phil Zabel joined eZabel in November 2000, making him one of the original members — and quite possibly the only father on the platform whose sons built the place. As iwz's dad, bozo's dad, aperson's husband, and bing's brother, he was the quiet patriarch of the site's founding family. With only 27 comments across four years, Phil was never going to win any post-count competitions, but what he did write carried weight. His two longest comments remain among the more thoughtful contributions in the eZabel archives: one was a measured reflection on faith and doubt, arguing that bad publicity could never dim a truth too compelling to be darkened; the other was hard-won marriage advice — "don't give up yourself in the process" — urging a young member not to abandon her individuality after the wedding, and closing with the quietly devastating line, "I wish someone had explained this to me." delliott101 took notes for "wife number two."

Phil was also, improbably, a beekeeper — a fact that delighted and baffled his son Ian, who "still can't believe you're actually a beekeeper now." He bundled newspapers with hemp twine because it made the best smoke for mellowing out his colony, and ilikebirds immediately wanted to know if there was money in becoming the Bee King. Phil attended thirteen eZabel events without ever creating one, showing up for go-karting, manhunt games, LAN parties, and Yankees outings — the dad who actually came to things. skaorsk8 once asked him, mid-thread, "yo felipe aren't you my uncle??" — which, given the Zabel-Bastidas family tangle, was only half a joke. His last comment, on New Year's Day 2004, wondered aloud how many Pomeranians a large snake could eat. It was a good note to go out on.

eZabel Personality Type: ISTJ — "The Quiet Patriarch." Phil said little, but when he spoke it landed. He kept bees, kept showing up to his kids' internet community events, and left behind exactly two long comments — one about conviction and one about marriage — that said more than most members managed in a thousand posts.