In realizing that, I thought “I miss talking to him. He’s a really good friend and a good person.” So I decided to post a happy birthday message to him on there (his birthday is on the 22nd). I didn’t hear from him all day, which surprised me because he was kind of a wiseass and a funny guy, and I would’ve expected some kind of response from him.

So at 8:30 pm last night, I received an email from a guy whose name is very familiar to me. It said, “David, I think you should know that Ron passed away.” I sat there and just stared at the computer in shock.

He was 52 years old. I was wondering how it happened. I mean, we just IM’d about a month ago.

Well, apparently, it was one of those weird and ugly twists of fate. My friend Ron was walking through Central Park, got hit by a speed biker, fell down, cracked some ribs, and hit his head. When you land on your head in the right spot, it’s always trouble.

He spent a couple weeks in the ICU — brain swelling, bleeding, in and out of consciousness and incoherent. He couldn’t fight it and the doctors couldn’t fix him.

I spent the next little while just thinking about Ron. I remember every time we hung out.

I remember his generosity. I remember that he believed that every time you have a house guest, you always take them out to dinner and show them a good time.

I also remember his honesty. When I was in my last relationship, he was one of the first ones to tell me I wasn’t feeling the things I should have felt, and that there was no reason to continue the relationship.

This blog today, however, was not written for all of you to say, “Sorry for your loss.” I am going to another funeral tomorrow also, but I don’t want to hear, “Sorry for your loss David” from any of you. Not once. This blog is your wakeup call.

Here is what I want each and every one of you to do this weekend for me and for yourself. Put together a list of all the great people in your life, and ask yourself if you’re in contact with them.

Forget the reasons why you’re not talking to them, and spend the weekend reconnecting with all of them. Call them, email them or text them. Take the time to get in touch with someone who’s a good friend but with whom you may have lost touch.

Forget the reasons why. Life happens.

Doing this is more important this weekend than thinking with your penis and going out trying to get laid. For the women, this is more important this weekend than trying to figure out how to get the right men to approach you.

It reminds me of the Mitch Album book “One More Day.” You’re not going to get one more day with the person who meant a lot to you. Shit happens. Life happens. So stop waiting like this is the endless ride, and start reconnecting.

I don’t want to see one “I’m sorry for your loss” comments today, and if you do I’ll know you didn’t read this whole blog. What I want to hear from you instead is, “Thank you for my gain. thank you for reminding me of the importance of reconnecting with a good friend.”

“Thank you for my gain David” is all I want to hear. Have a great Friday!

The funny thing about this very expensive piece of machinery, is that it only combs the sand close to the walkway. This gives the illusion that the whole beach is beautiful and well-manicured, when in reality it’s just that little strip of sand near the walkway. It’s like those homes with a nice looking lawn – everything looks good from the outside, but the inside sometimes looks like hell.

So tonight I will have to go food shopping to prepare for Mommy Week. The best thing about my girlfriend’s mother coming to visit is that she will cook me some great southern fare.

My girlfriend says her mom has a fantastic red beans and rice recipe, but being a Californian we’re going to make her southern mom our version of that: red beans and quinoa. Instead of heavy sauce oozing with butter, our version adds a dash of vegonaise. I can’t wait to see what her mom will think of our spice rack . . . talk about culture shock!

Now on to a more serious note. I rarely play on Facebook, but yesterday before I took a spin class I noticed a really sad posting on there. It was from a girl whose sister I used to be friends with back in high school.

The posting was wishing someone all the best during their time of need. So I followed the thread, and discovered that a friend of mine from college with whom I used to party, Mark Chaves, died on Friday from a heart attack at the age of 45.

During these times when you hear news like this, it makes you realize that you are not bullet-proof and that life can be taken at any time. One day you can be sitting riding a commuter train and you have a heart attack, and your whole life (and all your plans) are gone in an instant.

It also made something I already know even more vivid to me. It made me think how amazing it is how many of you wait for things to happen in your life.

Now I haven’t hung out with Mark Chaves in a long time, but I do remember him being full of life and a lot of fun. I can also say one thing about him for a fact: he NEVER waited in his life.

Whenever there was a party, he was there. Whenever there was a girl to whom we all wanted to talk, he was the first one to walk over and start talking to her.

He never let fear dictate his life, or keep him from doing and getting what he wanted in life. He lived his life to the fullest. He married Kim Rand, who was a friend of mine in high school. They had two amazing kids and from the last time we hung out he was all about being a great dad and family man. He did that with the same gusto he did everything in his life!

I spent my entire 20th or 25th (I can’t remember which) class reunion getting catching up with him. Life is a gift and, from what I remember about Mark Chaves, he lived life like it was a gift.

My message to all of you is this: Stop waiting!

Stop waiting to start your life or to live your life to the fullest, because you never know when your number will be called and when your journey is over. When it is time to go, make sure that you did everything you wanted in life, and that you will be remembered as a person who never waited.

I heard that 800 people showed up to his funeral. If I found out about his death sooner, it would have been 801 people. My heart goes out to the Chaves family, because a really good person left too soon.