they should normalize saying "I'm thinking of you fondly but don't have much to say and frankly I don't even really want to talk rn but you have appeared in my thoughts and it's nice"
You can literally just do this. Do it right now. I do it all the time. Sometimes I just send heart emojis. I have nothing to say, but I love you and you should know it. Any time I dream of someone I know, I text them to tell them (if we were close enough for me to have their contact info), even if we haven’t spoken in months or years. I usually follow it up with a “how are you?” Sometimes that’ll spawn a longer conversation, but most of the time it’s a simple pleasantry and that’s it. I encourage you to start doing this. The people you care about should know they’re cared for, even if you’re bad at remembering they exist or communicating or whatever. Tell someone you thought about them today, even if you have nothing more than that to say. I promise they’ll appreciate it.
