Ron was a devout man. He was a good man. He was my friend. We were bicycle buddies. He was one of the Ons: Don, Ron and John. These were guys that I regularly rode with and who would call home, while I was still at work. Teenage David, home alone, would answer the phone and tell them that I was not yet home. When I did get home, I would ask Dave if anyone had called. He would always answer that one of the Ons had called. I would be left to figure out which one.

Yesterday, Anne and I attended Ron’s memorial service. It was an open casket affair. I hate those. His funeral is today, but I do not plan on attending. Anne cautioned me about this decision, “You know, it you don’t go to Ron’s funeral, he probably won’t come to yours.” Ron had Parkinsons and he died from complications of his treatment for that disease.

A week ago, Ron’s daughter called me, to tell me her father’s death. I got the word out and there was a good showing of other bicyclists. In addition to John, there was Tony, both former coworkers of mine at Control Data. Sandi and Chris also came. I realized later that we had obtained quorum for the former TWA MS-150 bicycle team. Sandi was team captain and the rest of us rode for the team. Don was also on this team, and he then went on to found Kaldi’s bicycle team.