Neither of us drink alcohol (he's a former alcoholic, I’m a Muslim) so we were completely sober, which is even weirder.

This is the relationship I have with one of my Lebanese friends. We are always the sober ones at the party (although her almost-live-in boyfriend is throttling back a little), and it doesn't really strike either of us as weird.

And that's what struck me the most about this piece, which is how being non-drinking and being Muslim--even one who fasts during Ramadan--is so ordinary. With the way the news and Facebook posts have been about the latter, especially since the shootings in Paris, it's been easy for the Western world to forget that members of the world's most populous religion are just regular people.

And on top of that, this is relaxed and well-written and a little bit sad, and overall, quite beautiful.