033: LONG LIVE DAVID ✊🏽

he had great hair & an incredible smile

Jan 04, 2022

Hey everyone, thanks for making it out today. If you're hearing this speech, I'm probably dead. If I'm not, there's been a terrible mistake. You look fabulous, and I appreciate you wearing your best outfits. You can all go home now, though. Enjoy the playlist. If I text you, pretend like this never happened 🙈

But if I am dead, I wanted to tell you about a few things I learned during my 106 years of life. I lived to be 106 because my dad decided he would live to be 104. I wanted to make sure I lived one year more than him, so I could always hold that over him when we met in the afterlife (if there is a life after life). Not that it matters. Then I realized if there was an afterlife and I made it, having died at 105, my Dad would probably see me and say, "You ONLY lived to be 105? A smart guy like you? A genius? Shit, you should've lived to be like 125 at least!" So I added one more year for good measure.

Anyways, back to the death thing. But this isn't about death. It's about life. Life is a funny thing. Probably the funniest thing that's ever happened. Things get a bit easier once you come to terms with that (things = life).

I remember growing up and watching Behind The Music on VH1. Before we had unlimited options to stream and still ended up watching the same five things, we had a limited number of things to watch and always ended up watching the same five things. One of my favorite editions of Behind The Music was The Notorious B.I.G. episode. There's one scene that stuck with me from that episode the first time I saw it that remains just as vivid today. In the scene, someone is talking about Biggie's funeral. They're bringing his casket down the street in Brooklyn, on the block where he grew up, when all of a sudden, someone started blasting 'Hypnotize' from their speakers. Then it became a party. With people singing, dancing, jumping on cars, almost rioting, and a few getting arrested. Better said, everyone there was feeling more alive than ever through the music of Christopher Wallace.

Feeling more alive than ever while his body, devoid of any life itself, crept down the street.

I was nine years old when that documentary aired, and I've thought about that moment ever since. Everyone thinks that it's over once you die.

That's a wrap

no more chapters in the book

the credits are over and there's no extra scene

Netflix has canceled the most popular series of all time after only two seasons

it never feels like enough time, does it?

But that moment showed me that if you do things a certain way while you're alive, you can help everyone else feel full of life after your death.

I spent Christmas in 2021 with my family in Orlando. My parents had just moved into a new house, and they even brought my grandma from Puerto Rico to spend the holidays with us. At that time, my grandma was dealing with some health issues. It was only the second time in 2 years that I had seen her in person, and sometimes you worry how much time a person has left. Her birthday is on January 2nd. And the family was excited to celebrate together.

That's when I broke the news: I wasn't going to be home for New Year's Eve or my grandma's birthday. I was going back to Miami on the 30th. What important reason? There was a DJ I wanted to see in concert.

I looked my grandma in the eyes, and she made a devastating face 🥺

"But, what if I die soon and this is the last birthday you ever spend with me? Are you really going to take that chance?"

That was exactly the response I was worried about, and she really went there. On the real, gotta give her props for pulling out the death card. Not many chances to play that one. But, immediately after that, her tone changed.

She said, "Noooo. ¡Te estoy molestando! Cuando yo muera, no llores. ¡Celebren! Celebren mi vida y todo el tiempo que pasamos juntos. Yo he tenido una vida larga y buena, con una familia llena de amor. Así que no te pongas triste por mi cuenta."

I think everyone wishes they're able to say that near the end of their lives. At least that's what I want to say.

No one wants to look back and think about all the time they didn't spend doing what they loved or without the people they loved. Yet, we all insist on working every conceivable hour possible.

You finished early? Here's a little work to get done.

You got free time? Get ahead on a little more work.

You found something outside of work that you love doing just because it makes you happy? What if I told you we could actually turn that into work 😈

It always seemed a little paradoxical to me, emphasizing work and productivity to have more time to spend on free time—while most of your free time is actually taken up with work and productivity.

So what could I do to leave a lasting legacy?

How could I make sure that when they bring my casket down Ashford Ave in Condado1 the crowd gets so excited they start singing, dancing, jumping, and almost rioting?

I asked myself that for many years until one day I realized it's not about people going crazy and having a party. It's about the way you made people feel. What memories pop up when they think of you.

When my time is up, I don't want you to discuss me and talk about how much money I made, all the stuff I had, or any other type of related bullshit.