Le righe
- I said it, it was mine to not say, and I said it in front of your parents.
- No excuse in this note, because I don't have one that would help.
- I missed it. You'd asked me twice. I'm sorry, and I'll be at the next one.
- You don't have to write back or accept this.
- Sending this after the fact, not instead of it.
- I was wrong about the thing in March and I've been slow to say so.
- I'm sorry. Not sorry you were upset — sorry I did it.
- I've been avoiding this conversation for eleven days. That was also a choice.
- Whatever you need from me next, I'll do it. Including nothing.
- I let you down on a day that mattered and I knew it mattered.
- I'd like to fix it. If you'd rather I didn't, say so and I'll stop.
- Four days late with this, which is its own small version of the problem.
If you only remember one thing
Short and specific beats long and general. “I still think about you driving me to the airport at five in the morning” does more work than three sentences of sympathy, because only you could have written it.