Hey stranger. I’m keeping this simple. I had been thinking about something completely unrelated, then suddenly there you were in my head. Something dumb reminded me of you and I figured saying hi wasn’t the worst thing in the world. No hidden agenda. I’m just wondering how life’s been treating you. That’s really all. I didn’t know what to do with that for a minute.

I hope you’re doing okay. This is probably random. I heard life has been rough lately, and I remember how you go quiet when you’re overwhelmed. It hit me this afternoon, which somehow made the whole thought feel more random. You don’t owe me an update. I just hope you’re taking care of yourself. Anyway, I hope you’re okay.

I don’t think we should keep texting like this. We keep slipping into old habits without having any actual plan for what we’re doing. Every “hey stranger” turns into a week of me overthinking things I thought I had settled. Maybe we can talk someday without reopening everything. I’m not there yet. I laughed at myself afterward.

I still think we were the right people at the wrong time. Facebook showed me something that pulled the memory forward before I was ready. We cared about each other while both of us were changing too fast to build anything steady. I’m not asking to reopen it. I just think timing mattered more than we admitted. I just wanted to say it once.

I heard something good happened for you. I didn’t expect to say that today. I didn’t expect my reaction to be that immediate. I had been thinking about something completely unrelated, then suddenly there you were in my head. Congratulations. I mean that with no weird history attached. No pressure to respond. I just wanted to say it once and leave it there.

I heard things are rough with your family right now. I didn’t expect to say that today. I had been thinking about something completely unrelated, then suddenly there you were in my head. I found an old T-shirt right before that, which probably didn’t help. You don’t owe me details. I just hope somebody is checking on you too. No pressure to respond.

Seeing you move on made something click for me. I had been thinking about something completely unrelated, then suddenly there you were in my head. It was such a small thing that I felt ridiculous for noticing it. Now I can see both things can be true: we mattered, and we still ended. Anyway, I hope you’re okay.

I found something of yours and started laughing. I did the thing you always warned me not to do and learned the lesson the embarrassing way. I almost sent you a picture from the train station because my brain still expects your sarcastic commentary. I’m not making this emotional. I just figured you’d appreciate the stupidity 😂

I’m proud of you. This is probably random. I saw dumplings and immediately connected it to one of our stupid old routines. I found an old movie ticket right before that, which probably didn’t help. You earned it. I hope you actually let yourself enjoy it. No pressure to respond. That probably sounds more dramatic than it felt.

I’m still angry about how you ended things. I found an old water bottle right before that, which probably didn’t help. It was such a small thing that I felt ridiculous for noticing it. I’m not texting to fight. I just needed to say that part still bothers me. I just wanted to say it once.