It was nothing, really. I was having a bad week. I picked up my phone to call a friend and then thought: it's late, he's probably busy, it's not that serious, I'll be fine tomorrow.
I put the phone down.
Thirty seconds later my phone buzzed. It was him calling me.
I don't know why he called. He said later he'd just had a feeling. Maybe that's true. Maybe he was going to call anyway and the timing was just coincidence.
But I've thought about it often since: the call I almost didn't make. The call that came in the moment I decided not to make mine.
I don't have a clean conclusion to offer you. Only this: I think we underestimate how often the people in our lives are sitting with the phone in their hand, about to call, putting it down. And how much it would mean — to both of you — if one of you just didn't put it down.
Call the person. It's not too late. It's probably not too much.