Ok, this is good, praise and encouragement are good, it's a small connection with him. Stopping by if you feel like it is also good, it might strengthen that connection. Maybe he isn't getting this interest or encouragement from the OW.
We don't know the whole story around that part of your lives prior to this.
Small connections without stress are the baby steps that everyone is talking about here.
No mention of D is also good. Not because it is off his mind, but because it isn't the foremost thing on his mind.
Keep in mind that this is often likened to a rollercoaster,, (with good reason,) and it easy for us to want to see a baby step as major improvement when the rollercoaster crests.
Just see it for what it is, a positive connection that is like a brick in the bridge back for him.
-------------- The Forlorn Hope:...A picked body of men detached to the front to begin the attack....Fortified, meaning strengthened to stand...and thus, positioned for victory
