Hopeful, and Forward, I took your suggestion and put the offer out there on IM for H to stop by for coffee sometime. He responded to the offer: 'you never know'. I said, 'that's promising, the offer stands, if you ever choose'. He said 'thanks'. When I think of it now, it's quite non-committal. But, in the moment, I did feel hopeful, for the first time in a long time. Well, it's out there, now I'll back off again. I'm quite surprised that he even responded. Once
