I have a friend, a neighbor, who died unexpectedly a while back. Her brother invited me to lunch this week. I am not a lunching person and I only know her brother that teeny bit, but of course I said ok and it went fine. I suggested we meet at California Tortilla and it just happened to be free chili day. We just talked about his sister and stuff. I had told my coworker that I was worried it might be a weird thing, so when I returned I was happy to report that it was not weird (except for the part about eating away from my desk).

She was disappointed. She had been hoping that he was the executor of her estate and he was meeting to bestow upon me her vast holdings. I said that I knew too much about her financial state to have entertained such thoughts. She decided on a career late, went to school late, started working late. Some of her friends were talking about retirement but she was looking at working for a long time. I had suggested ways to catch up, but she was a very poor saver. Actually, it's more accurate to say she was a fabulous spender. Anyway, my coworker said, "Well, that worked out just about right then, didn't it?" Um, yes. Yes it did.

*grits teeth, squirrels away*