[BG] A relative (first cousin) “Joe” and I have been out of touch for several years. He lives in another state and although we used to be somewhat close, our contact has been sporadic. Although he was always lots of fun and has many good qualities, I’ve had a couple of experiences in the past which revealed that he can be deceptive. But, that was then and this is now.[end BG]
Over the holidays I was touching base (via phone and email) with a few relatives and I looked up Joe’s phone number, called, and left a “Merry Christmas, call me when you get a chance” voicemail. The following evening he did call, we talked, had a few laughs, etc. The conversation lasted about an hour. We hadn’t talked in a long time, and there was a lot to catch up on.
Joe is quite close with another cousin “Bob”, who I talk to a few times a year. Yesterday Bob’s wife called, we talked for a few minutes, then Bob got on the phone. He said “I hear you spoke with Joe recently. He said he’s forgotten how much you like to talk, but he knows how you are and that you get excited sometimes.” He kind of sneered and laughed, but it felt like somewhat of a dig. Hmmm.
I’m tempted to send Joe an email “Gosh, I’m sorry you felt it necessary to complain to Bob about how long I talked. Since we had been out of touch I saw nothing wrong with that, and if you were in the middle of something you could have said so. I was under the impression that you enjoyed our conversation, but I guess I was wrong.”
But, I haven’t done anything. Should I just let it go?