Unfinished Conversations

I suppose that in the larger scheme of things, we might keep in touch with people for a long time without realising that they aren't there. Look at your Facebook friends list, look at your address book, look around you. We hold many conversations with those who exist, let alone those who are imaginary characters. And it's hard to tell when those conversations are done.

Decades ago I remember writing aerogrammes to friends in Nottingham, Manchester, Cambridge; I remember writing many letters to many people. At some point, we all moved on. We stopped conversing, but the conversations never really ended. Sometimes, the people who forgot us, or whom we forgot, come back into our lives.

And the unfinished conversations are renewed, or polished, or smoothed over. Maybe some day they will finally be properly finished. But we'll never know, because the next step is beyond us.