Familiar Places
There’s a small cafe where my office used to be previously. It’s a coffee kiosk, with merely 3 tables, 2 chairs on each table, and it is set out in the open. A clothed roof above and grass-like carpet for the floor, it gives me the kind of environment where I could randomly go, order a frappe, and read or write something on my laptop.
My ex introduced me to this cafe, on our very first date to be exact. And since it was close to my office, taking a mocha to office became my once-a-week habit. After a certain point, even the kiosk owner recognized me and we became good acquaintances, friends even!
The place holds many memories. He and I used to frequently meet there. We’ve had fights at that place and even got them resolved there. That was actually the last place we went to right before our breakup. So, going there post-breakup felt weird. As if it wasn’t my place anymore. I always feared bumping into him on a random day there (which, coincidentally, happened a fine day), and so today I avoid going there at all.
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It makes me wonder
How many places we let go of just because someone else brought it in our lives, and now that they’re not there, what do we do of that place?
Do we keep it and keep going as if it meant nothing? Or do we keep it at bay and hope to God that such coincidences don’t happen? Along with people, we sometimes do let go of places, but is that fair to us?
People say that we need to make room for the new memories, new people in our lives. For this, we will have to get rid of anything that may be taking up space in our current lives. I always held onto people and places longer, because there seems to be a void I may not know how to fill.
Till then, I guess, there is no harm in enjoying my favorite Nutella Frappe on random Saturday evenings…
What’s one place you haven’t returned to, and why?
Originally published at https://stardustandsilence.substack.com.
