A few days ago, John Ritter, star of 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter on ABC passed away after being diagnosed with an unrecognized and undetected flaw in his heart. John was 54 years old, born September 17, 1948 - his birthday would have been Wednesday. His death came as a shock to all who had followed his career, from Three's Company to his more recent projects.

But where John's Ritter death really hit me was on the homefront. He's a full 4 years older than my father and heart disease runs in the family. My grandfather had triple bypass surgery and obviously, my father is aware of his risk. But as far as I know, he hasn't had a check-up in a few years and, with a disease like heart disease, it can strike at any time. When you hear of someone passing away from heart disease, it just makes you realize how fragile life is and how quickly someone could be gone. Ritter was fine earlier that day, no one saw this coming. My dad is fine tonight...but you just never know what will happen next when it comes to heart disease.

URL: CNN.com - Actor John Ritter dead at 54 - Sep. 12, 2003