I know a friendship is over when my body feels relief, not warmth

Dear Delyara, That is the clearest sign for me now. Not the delayed reply. Not the cancelled plan. My own nervous system. When a message from someone brings relief because I don’t have to answer right away, or relief because it stayed shallow, or relief because plans got postponed, I know something important has already gone wrong. That is such a sad way to realise the truth. Because on paper, nothing may have ended. The connection still exists. The names are the same. The history remains. But the body knows when it no longer experiences the person as rest. And once I know that, some part of the grief has already begun.