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Should I agree to one last coffee with an ex who says it would give her closure?

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My ex asked to meet for coffee: "Just once, so it doesn't end with a phone call." We broke up three weeks ago after several conversations about wanting different futures. I made the final call because we kept leaving those conversations as if a decision had been postponed.

I still care about her. The call wasn't rushed, and I answered the questions she asked, but I can understand why it felt like an unsatisfying ending. Since then, we've exchanged a few messages about how she's doing. I have tried to be kind without suggesting we might get back together.

She says the coffee would be goodbye. I'm worried I'd find it hard to leave when she gets upset, then agree to another conversation. I also wonder whether refusing is simply avoiding something uncomfortable that I owe her.

How would you decide whether to meet? I want to take her request seriously, but I don't want kindness to turn into an ending neither of us can recognise.

Discussion

3 community replies

You don't have to agree to coffee because it has been named closure. Consider what you can honestly offer there. If it would be a clear goodbye and you want that too, meeting is an option. If you already expect to reopen the decision to ease her sadness, the hesitation deserves attention.

Has she named something she couldn't ask on the call? You could ask that before deciding. A question you haven't answered is different from a wish for the ending to feel less painful. Coffee may give space for either, but you shouldn't promise it will make her feel finished.

The messages about how she's doing may be part of the uncertainty. Does she know you intend the relationship to stay ended, including after this possible coffee? Whatever you choose about meeting, being plain about that is kinder than leaving her to infer it from careful wording.

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