Mirror Ball Lunch

You think you know a friend.

She's someone you see all the time at music shows, so you know you have that in common.

The two of you have talked about a mutual preference for warm weather and the cute clothes that go with it.

But when you meet for lunch at Crossroads and really get to talking, you discover that you have The Trifecta in common, too.

Over her grilled cheese and your BLT (both on the server-recommended sourdough), you lunch with someone who knows exactly what it's like when life decides to clobber you not once or twice, but three successive times.

And yet here we both were.

Still, it's rare to find someone who can relate to losing your job, your partner and your health before you've even had time to get up after the previous loss.

For her, it all happened in a two-year period; for me, it was a mere eight weeks.

So with techno music blaring (she said, "I feel like there should be a disco ball in here," and she's a dance party fanatic), we talk about how life's 1-2-3 punch had changed us.

Consensus: life is way too short.

She used to be a perfectionist and now she's far more laid back. I used to be an early riser and now I go to be a couple of hours before I used to get up.

We both cherish the free time that our reduced incomes allow for. We welcome the challenge of living on less and enjoying life more.

Neither of us can be bothered to sweat the small stuff. And once you've been run over by the triple play of life, it's all small stuff.

So if you see us at the show tomorrow night, we'll be the ones grinning like we've got the greatest lives around.

The way we see it, we do.