I'm glad I didn't try to do this earlier. Things are going OK so far, but I finally did switch, just now, from coffee to wine as I deal with photos "pre-breakup"--travels, conferences, home fix-ups etc. that we did together. I have a small pile of "probably should not throw out now; will see if I want to throw out later" but there are a lot of "throw-out now" photos...primarily doubles of rescued cats over the years. Wedding photos, well, I'll keep a few of the nicest of those, especially of friends, and that's about it. I'll put those in the pile of "decide on later" and wrap them up well for storage.
It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate throughout our lives. I really thought I had whittled myself down to the bare essentials, but now that I'm thinking of renting and have to entirely clean out the upstairs, I've discovered more stuff I just plain need to get rid of. Incredible.
Post Note: Yup, I'm glad I waited. I find I am smiling and laughing more than cursing. It's not even bittersweet. You know, the last 25 years of my life (from college until now) were incredibly good. I am sorry that my husband was ultimately unhappy at the end. I am sorry that he didn't say something earlier so that we could have worked on it. I'm sorry I was not astute enough to see that what I took for patience was in fact unhappiness, and I'm sorry that I took for granted that he would be there until I sorted out the myriad commitments I was dealing with those last three years (job, sick father, cats, etc.) I hope I've learned something so that I am a better partner should there be a next time around with someone else.
I'm going to go ahead and put the wedding photos in the album rather than packing them away. It's really OK. I'm surprised.
It's too late to turn back the clock, but looking through these photos, there's not a lot I can regret. There was a lot of fun in the 18 years of our acquaintance, and even more accomplishments. And quite a crowd of friends.
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