The longer I left it, the harder hello felt.

I would see my old friend's name and start composing a message in my head. Then I would think about how long it had been. A casual hello seemed too small for the gap, but a long explanation felt strange. I would close the chat without sending either.

There hadn't been a falling-out. We had stopped working in the same place, and the regular conversations had stopped with it. At first I had forgotten to write. Later I was putting it off because I had forgotten to write.

I added them to my list in Relationshipss so the thought had somewhere to go. When I saw their name in Today, I still had to decide what to say. I wrote a short message about something that had reminded me of them and asked how they were. The app didn't compose it or send it for me.

They wanted to catch up too, and we arranged a call. Afterward, I recorded the conversation and chose a monthly rhythm to try. I didn't count sending the first message as a catch-up, and I didn't need the next conversation to account for every month we had missed.

It could have gone differently. They might not have replied, or might not have wanted to start again. I would have needed to respect that. A reminder made the intention easier to return to; it couldn't tell me how the message would be received. Sending a simple, welcome hello was still a choice I had to make.