The app reminded me it had been two years since I talked to someone I used to be close to. Just a prompt in the notifications, small and persistent. I stared at it for a while. I don't know what I'd say to her now. I don't know who she is anymore or who I am to her. But I sent a message anyway - something short and neutral and deliberately vague - and she replied with something equally noncommittal and we both agreed we should catch up soon and that was that. The notification went away.

I maintain dozens of relationships in this state. Not broken, not close. Just dormant and occasionally serviced. A birthday message here, a reaction there. The mechanism of connection without the connection itself. I keep it going because letting it go entirely feels wrong, even though the alive version of it is already gone. Do you have people you keep in touch with out of obligation more than love? What would happen if you let those threads go quiet for good?