I never told him what he meant to me. I never said anything. I smiled. I laughed. I walked away. And I never said a thing. And then he left me, and I was alone. And I realized that it was my own silence that left me alone. That one word, just one single word, is all you needed from me.
It’s been over a decade now. You moved to Chicago. I moved to Memphis. You have a family, and I have seven dogs. I think I ended up with the better bargain, I’ll be honest. And now I definitely can’t say anything, can I?
Look, I know you’ll never come down to Memphis. I know you hate it here. And I only have so much vacation time I can use, and the neighbor kid is only so willing to look after two terriers, a beagle, an English boxer, and three mixes whose heritage we never really figured out.
And I can’t even really say goodbye to you for real. So here I am, doing it virtually, and anonymously, on a website you’ll never find.
I’m glad I had you in my life, and I’m sorry you won’t be in it any longer. Good luck, Mark.
