added blog about getting a sos message from the one i still love

2026-03-25 15:55:37 +01:00
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+---
+title: "Still Listed"
+description: "An unexpected moment that showed me how love can remain, even without access."
+pubDate: 2026-03-25
+tags: ["reflection", "personal", "love", "healing"]
+category: "reflection"
+featuredEssay: false
+draft: false
+---
+
+*by LATTE*
+
+I noticed the call first.
+
+Just a missed call — nothing unusual.  
+But when I looked at the number, I saw the last three digits.
+
+And I knew.
+
+Immediately.
+
+Some things do not pass through thought first.  
+They register somewhere deeper,  
+like an old signal still recognized by the body  
+before the mind has time to name it.
+
+---
+
+Then I opened my phone.
+
+> SOS! I need emergency help.  
+> My current location: [link]  
+> (Sent from my watch)
+
+A location.  
+His location.
+
+And for a moment — maybe two, maybe three seconds —  
+everything in me just… stopped.
+
+My heart skipped.  
+My body went cold.
+
+---
+
+It was him.
+
+The person I used to be closest to.  
+The person I still, quietly, carry something for.
+
+Not in a way that reaches.  
+Not in a way that asks.
+
+But in the way some things remain present  
+even after they are no longer active in your life.
+
+---
+
+I could have called.
+
+That thought came instantly.  
+Automatic. Familiar.
+
+But I didn’t.
+
+Not because I don’t care.
+
+But because I know what my place is now.
+
+Some forms of care are no longer meant to become action.
+
+---
+
+There was one small detail that grounded me.
+
+At the end of the message, there was a single word:
+
+> fuck
+
+And somehow, that told me enough.
+
+That it was likely a mistake.  
+A misfire.  
+A false alarm rather than a real emergency.
+
+Not nothing.  
+But not a door I was meant to walk back through.
+
+---
+
+So I chose something simple.
+
+I told him I didn’t recognize the number.  
+That he probably had the wrong contact.  
+That it might be good to update it.
+
+And then I added:
+
+> I do hope they’re okay.
+
+---
+
+And that was the truth.
+
+Just not the whole truth.
+
+Because I *did* recognize it.
+
+Immediately.
+
+My body knew before I even opened the message.  
+Before I had time to think.  
+Before I could separate memory from reaction.
+
+I knew it was him.
+
+The one I still hope is okay.
+
+---
+
+And I still hoped he was okay,  
+not as a role,  
+not as a responsibility,  
+but as something quieter than that.
+
+As love, maybe.
+
+Not the kind that asks for access.  
+Not the kind that tries to reconnect.
+
+Just the kind that remains.
+
+---
+
+Because even now —  
+after months of distance —
+
+I still love him.
+
+Not loudly.  
+Not in a way that pulls me back.
+
+But in a way that stays with me.
+
+The love did not vanish.  
+Its permissions changed.
+
+---
+
+There’s no anger in it.
+
+No resentment.  
+No need to rewrite what we were  
+into something smaller just to make ending easier.
+
+Just… a kind of warmth  
+that never fully left.
+
+I still hope he’s okay.  
+I still wish him the best.
+
+Genuinely.
+
+Not because I am waiting.  
+Not because I am holding a door open.
+
+But because loving someone deeply  
+can remain true  
+even after contact is gone.
+
+---
+
+And at the same time,
+
+I hope I never see him again.
+
+---
+
+Not out of bitterness.
+
+But because of a promise.
+
+---
+
+During our last real call,  
+he didn’t know if he wanted me in his life anymore.
+
+Not as a partner.  
+Not even as a friend.
+
+There was hesitation.
+
+And in that hesitation,  
+I made the decision myself.
+
+I stepped away completely.
+
+Because if someone no longer knows  
+whether they want you near,  
+the kindest thing you can do  
+is stop making your presence another question.
+
+---
+
+That was my choice.
+
+My boundary.
+
+My final act of love  
+toward him,  
+and toward myself.
+
+Not to keep reaching.  
+Not to remain available.  
+Not to leave anything half-open.
+
+Just to step back fully  
+and let silence do what it needed to do.
+
+---
+
+My body did not understand any of that in the moment.
+
+It reacted anyway.
+
+Because even if someone is no longer in your life,  
+your system can still recognize them instantly.
+
+Some connections are not erased.  
+They are stored differently.
+
+Not deleted.  
+But archived.
+
+Still there.  
+Just no longer meant to be reopened.
+
+---
+
+So I stepped away.
+
+Got into the shower.  
+Let the warmth bring me back into myself again.
+
+Slowly, everything settled.
+
+My breathing eased.  
+My body returned.  
+The moment passed.
+
+---
+
+That’s the strange part of healing.
+
+You can have distance.  
+You can have clarity.  
+You can have peace.
+
+And still — something small, unexpected —  
+can reach into deeper layers.
+
+A place where memory lives in the body.  
+A place that reacts before meaning catches up.
+
+---
+
+But this time, it didn’t take me with it.
+
+I didn’t call.  
+I didn’t step back in.  
+I didn’t confuse love with access.
+
+I cared —  
+and I stayed where I am.
+
+---
+
+And tonight,  
+I’ll probably just watch something simple.
+
+Let the day end quietly.  
+Let my body settle again.
+
+---
+
+Because some things do not need to be fixed.
+
+Some things  
+are simply meant to be carried.
+
+Softly.  
+At a distance.  
+With care.
+
+Without losing yourself.