Moving on

This is something I didn't talk about a lot, so some of you reading this may be surprised to know that I was in an 11 year, mostly long distance, on again off again relationship, that ended in the fall. I guess I somehow felt that the relationship wasn't real since it was mostly long distance, so I kept it to myself and a few close friends. But the thing is, even though a lot of the relationship was lived out in my head, it was still real to me, and the ending of it was painful. Without going into the reasons, he ended it with pretty much no goodbye or "thanks for the memories" or anything. I hadn't heard from him in probably seven months until last night, when I get a very strange IM. It was basically a "hello....I'm sorry....I hope you're well....and goodbye." I responded with "I don't hate you....I'll always think of you fondly....it's probably best we don't try to reconnect and I hope you're well too." The interesting thing is how I felt afterwards. I felt normal. I didn't feel this desperate need to e-mail him and try to get more from him. I felt curious. I wondered what prompted this exchange. But I didn't feel that emotional turmoil that I've felt in the past. I just kinda shrugged my shoulders and said "Hmmmm.....what was that all about?" He played a significant part in my life, and there will always be a part of me that cares what happens to him, but I can do that from a distance. And the best part is, I don't feel like I need anything from him now. I guess this is what it feels like to move on. Interesting......