DEAR ABBY: My wife and I were sorting through some old things of mine and came across a wallet containing some pictures of my old high school girlfriend. Normally, I wouldn't think twice about tossing them, but in this case, she was someone I had stayed very close with (platonically) until her untimely death several years ago.
What is the protocol for throwing away things like this, when it's someone you were close to who is now deceased? I'm sure her parents wouldn't want them.
It feels disrespectful to toss them in the trash, but at the same time I don't really feel I need to keep them. My wife doesn't care either way if I keep them or not. -- TO KEEP OR NOT TO KEEP
DEAR TO KEEP OR NOT TO KEEP: Offer the pictures to your former girlfriend's family because they might surprise you and consider them treasures. However, if they're not interested and you can't bring yourself to put them in the trash, put them in the box in which you found them and let your family deal with them after you're gone.