August 17, 2025

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

How do you sit with silence? There are withdrawal symptoms when you stop talking to someone you have met almost every day. Perhaps the person moved away or passed or the mold was broken.

It’s not all about sadness, of course. Maybe the other person went on to further achievement – to college, a first or a new job, a relationship. The new mold is one of happiness. Yet you feel personal loss, for between two people, in their time, there is a unique frequency, a rhythm in their sharing of words. You say one thing; the other person answers or produces sentences that move the conversation along. There is a synergy.

We all have our favorite moments of the day or night, and regularly meeting up with someone can be one of them. So when the routine ends, we sit with silence.

It is all part of life, such parting, because our years are limited in the first place. Change always arrives, often suddenly, and you no longer have your hands around that favorite cup of coffee while you join in back-and-forth talk with the regular friend or relative. You use the cup again, but it is not the same. For a time, you sit with silence.

But only for a time, but then life restarts the motor. New conversations begin though the old ones still echo.

The writer is a retired newspaperman. Any comments? guntherart12@gmail.com

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