38 | FEBRUARY 16 • 2023
A
ccording to Jewish
lore, there’s no
such thing as
coincidence. We are precisely
where we’re meant to be at
any given time. So when a
couple comes about because
of a “chance meeting,” we
can assume that is the reason
they were there.
Rebecca Roberts and Dean
Lugashi of Southfield met in
the summer of 2012 while
doing something neither
of them had ever done
before or since: They both
happened to be working as
inclusion counselors at the
JCC camp. They were both
counselors for the same
group, Teen Trekkers.
“I’d never been to camp
my entire life and I thought
it would be fun to be a
counselor,” Rebecca said. “I
was right; it was a blast!”
Rebecca had grown up in
Hazel Park, raised by her
parents, who had been high
school sweethearts.
Dean, meanwhile, had
moved around quite a bit
during childhood. Originally
from Los Angeles, he’d
moved to Israel with his
family when he was 6, then
to New Jersey when he was
14. At age 24, one month
before camp started, he
relocated again, this time to
Michigan.
Dean liked Rebecca right
away, but Rebecca was
oblivious.
“I remember we went
canoeing together with two
special needs teenage boys
who were panicking that
they might fall in the water,”
Rebecca said. “At the same
time, Dean was trying to flirt
with me, but it kept flying
over my head!”
Rebecca asked him, “So,
what are you doing at the
end of the summer?”
Dean’s answer was an
extremely clear, “Hanging
out with you.”
Finally, she got it!
These days, when telling
their “how we met” story,
Dean will inevitably end with
“… And I’m still hanging out
with her!”
As they got to know
each other, the young
couple particularly
enjoyed discovering a
name connection: Dean’s
grandmother’s name was
Rebecca and his grandfather
was Robert — and the whole
family was delighted that
he was dating a Rebecca
Roberts!
Dean’s parents were so
enamored with the area
when they came for a visit,
they moved to Southfield
soon afterwards. Rebecca
converted to Judaism in
2018, just a few weeks before
their July wedding, which
took place in Dean’s parents’
backyard.
Currently, Dean is a
plan reviewer and building
inspector for Bloomfield
Township, and Rebecca
works actively as a caregiver
for adults with disabilities
(although she’s also a
licensed Realtor and builder.)
The couple are parents to
daughter Arielle, 2, who just
started attending Shaarey
Zedek Hebrew school.
“And, of course, we plan
to send her to the JCC camp
one day!” Rebecca said.
“We’ll tell her this is where
her dad and I first met …
and who knows who she’ll
meet there!”
This column will appear biweekly. If
you’d like to share your ‘meet-cute’
story, please email burstynwithjoy@
hotmail.com.
HOW WE MET
OUR COMMUNITY
‘All in the
Name’
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rebecca Roberts
and Dean Lugashi
freshly married
Rebecca and
Dean and
daughter Arielle