It is the relationship that changes.

Whatever relationship one imagines or has, it never ends.

Some start when we dream of or imagine that relationship.

Then there might be an episode when it is tangible. It’s people who are friends and meet regularly, it’s the person serving us in the restaurant, it’s the place we go to regularly, it’s the place we discover by chance, it’s the pet we own, etc.

When that episode ends, the relationship continues. May it be through thoughts or memories that pop up regularly, may it be something brings it back to mind, or may it be that we have rituals that regularly bring that relationship back to mind. It’s true for relationships we hated as much as those we loved.

What changes is how we relate. It can be through dreams, imagination, meetings, connections, or souvenirs.

What also changes is the quality of the relationship. Individual actions and their responses change that quality. As time passes by, habits, events, and reflections also transform the quality of the relationship. To the better, to the worse.

It’s, for example, the people you meet but don’t really connect with, and whom you meet again years later, to see them become your best friend. But it’s also the parent one is angry with and vows never to see again, or the life partner one divorces.

Whenever one decides to end a relationship, one should not expect that it will end without the ability to let go.