DEAR ABBY: Recently a young woman asked you how to mend a broken heart. Part of your advice was to get rid of everything -- photos, mementos, gifts -- that remind her of him. I disagree.
Our lives are a story, and stories are held in pictures and gifts. You should have told her she might put them out of sight, but the truth is our memories come from our hearts.
I am 42 years old and have been "in love" several times. I have been married to my husband for 10 wonderful years, but we both had lives and loves before we met. On the day we married, we both gathered and boxed up our years of memorabilia. We labeled them "Joan's Bones" and "David's Bones."
Our earlier treasures are part of who we were and part of who we have become. It will not help to destroy tangible items when the heart has already been affected in an intangible way. -- JOAN IN OREGON
DEAR JOAN: Doing away with painful reminders can provide a much-needed cleansing and speed the healing process. I see nothing wrong with keeping souvenirs. However, keeping them in plain sight can be very depressing just after a relationship has ended. Therefore, I advise putting them out of sight while the wounds are fresh.