I’m a firm believer that every person you date takes a piece of you with them when they leave. You spend a considerable amount of time with someone you’re dating and because of this, they know almost everything about you. The time you wake up, what you wore, what you ate, how your day went, your fears, your worries, your wins, etc. And if this relationship turns sour, you feel a hole in your heart regardless of how it ended; whether it was your fault or not.
I was having a conversation with my friend last week and the topic shifted to our exes. Then he mentioned that he deleted every photo he had of his most recent ex-girlfriend when the relationship ended and I went quiet. Before you judge me, hear me out on why I went hush. I understand the concept of deleting photos on social media or public places when you’re no longer together, but I don’t necessarily believe every photo you have with your ex on your phone should be deleted.
Some photos are just priceless e.g Disneyland, birthdays, and adrenaline-induced activities. I’m not the “let’s a take a selfie because we’re out on a date” type of girlfriend so if I happen to have a photo with you on my phone, it must have been of our fondest memories. I also still have photos of my most recent ex-boyfriend on my phone and other exes somewhere in my Laptop🙈 and this doesn’t mean I haven’t moved on.
Later that night, I was still fixated on this because I have more than just photos of my exes and it’s that thought that birthed this post. So I took a trip down memory lane and here’s what I found. Besides the gifts I was given during these relationships (which I believe should not be thrown away), I have two hoodies, a couple of t-shirts, slippers, a fitness watch, gym tops, a water bottle, and briefs. These items were somehow handed over to me at some point during the relationship and I still use some of these items till today. In fact, I typed this post in one of the hoodies and it’s doing a great job of keeping me warm.
I’m not keeping these items in a box to savour the scent of someone I don’t care about that way anymore and neither am I keeping them to sulk. These items are a part of my belongings, serve a purpose, are being used and being laundered. I’ve also passed some things down to people (mostly the brand new and never been used items).
Unconsciously, I’ve been doing this forever and it has never been an issue in any of my relationships; most likely because it was never discovered. Now, all my exes know I keep souvenirs and I’m not bothered about that. However, some part of me wonders if this right so I’m throwing this question out to you.
Is it wrong to keep souvenirs from past relationships?
Mariam Shittu
MARIAM SHITTU 
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