When Violet, the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey, speaks of the importance of good conversation, it seems trite in the Edwardian sort of way. But she’s right.
I don’t remember many specific conversations we had as teenagers. What I remember is a sense of awe in both what you had to say, and how you said it. It seemed clear to me that you’d grown up in a family that fostered good communication. And not only that – you had interesting things to say.
I think I was jealous about this when we were teenagers. I may have even had a bit of an inferiority complex about it.
When we met thirty years later I felt more confident. But we had so few opportunities to explore good conversation.
Today, living 2,500 miles away, good conversation is most of what we have to share. It’s a joy. While our intimate moments are truly a source of wonder and pleasure – it’s our conversation that cements our relationship.
An interesting outcrop of our modern conversations is your discovery of my wit. It’s the same wit I’ve always had. Why it revealed itself to you now is a mystery. I wish I had made you laugh more in our younger days. It might have changed history.