We Loved Deeply, So We Never Got in Touch Again

It turns out there really are people who love someone they no longer talk to, holding on through memories. I once read a wonderful answer that put it this way: I think I'm loving someone I no longer talk to through memories. I never let you go in my heart; I just stopped telling other people. The hardest part isn't separating. It's when some unremarkable moment in my life suddenly makes me think of you. I've almost forgotten what you look like, and your voice has grown hazy, but that feeling of love is still there. After enough time passed, I thought I was over you, but maybe I wasn't. You really did come into my world, but now you only live in the past I remember. It turns out the cruelest punishment isn't losing you, but being unable to forget you forever.

Missing you without contacting you is the last way I can love you. Let's each be well, and leave each other alone. One day, I'll let go of my attachment and live a life without you, as I always have. We began as strangers, and in the end we returned to being strangers. I guess people really do choose to let things take their course when there's nothing they can do. A sudden encounter, an unexpected attraction, a goodbye that caught us off guard, a merciless parting. I just hope you're safe.

I often feel that people who cling to the past are compassionate and tragic, like scavengers. They keep their heads down, picking up what others have thrown away, while holding on tight to the things they themselves ought to discard.