Bids

A bid is a small request for connection. It almost never looks like one.

Look at this. Did you see what your sister put on the group. The car is making that noise again. A hand on a shoulder as somebody passes behind a chair.

None of those are about their content. They are all the same question underneath, asked a hundred times a week: are you there. Most marriages contain far more of these than anyone notices, and they are noticed only by their absence.