I've had a lot of relationships in my life: short trysts, flings that last a month or two, and those super long "Are we getting married?" ones. And with a lot of these relationships under my belt, it's like having a huge house with lots of tenants moving in and out, they tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. There are letters, cards, presents, pictures, stuffed animals, ticket stubs, dishware, cookware, things you bought together and so on. A lot of stuff was split up when the break up happened. But what happens to the other things?
I'm not sure what other people do, but I happen to keep a small box, hidden of course. It's like a guy's stash of porn except instead of naked girls and boob-filled pages, it's romantic letters and that program from my favorite musical. Inside, is a candy wrapper from that memorable day at the beach and that dried flower that one of them gave me, not sure which one. Are you supposed to get rid of these things? Clean it little by little, first in, first out? I don't want A. to find it and have to relive all the relationships I've been in, but I don't think it's wrong for me to keep these things either.
I find that these memories are not just remnants of relationships, but reminders of who I was throughout life. The romantic letters remind me of days when I used to write poetry, and the musical program gives me inspiration to defy gravity. Though it may offend the current partner, I don't think it would do any harm to keep a little souvenir of these relationships. It's a look back into the past, and everything in the past has led me to where I am now.
