I mentioned to a friend that I am uncertain that I have ever missed anyone, which she thought unusual. I’ve certainly, upon recollecting times spent with old friends, thought that it’d be nice if some of them were living in LA. But I take it that missing them requires something more, like an awareness of their absence, which I do not have.

Perhaps the explanation is simple. 1. For something to be missed, it must be missing. 2. For it to be missing, it must be absent from a place where it should be. 3. There is no one who is absent from my life who ought (all things considered) to be in my life. 4. Therefore no one is missing from my life. 5. So I miss no one.

The above argument may be fallacious (key terms are ambiguous), and maybe does not demonstrate that what I suspect of myself – viz. that I am not capable of missing anyone – is explicable. But I tempted to think that there is a grain of truth in thinking that it is appropriate to miss someone if you ought (all things considered) to be with the person, but are not.

Note: this topic came up not because of Valentine’s Day, but because my friend mentioned that she missed her dog.
  ¶ 12:58 AM