I was out with two friends last night. All of us are married. My one friend and I both have a shoebox full of old cards/letters/photos from old girlfriends. My other friend felt very strongly that this was akin to cheating on our wives. He felt very strongly about it. He said "if you love your wife you wouldn't care about all your old girlfriends" and that we are being "untrue" and should immediately throw all that stuff out. He was implying that thinking about people we dated before we even knew our wives was cheating.
Specifically, I have no desire to be with an ex and only want to be with my wife. But, I still think about my past fondly - good times, young, stupid, etc. I do not want to erase those memories, I like them. I didn't know my wife back then. Am I suppose to erase my past from my memory and never think about it again? At least the bits that involve other women? I think that's ridiculous.
He married his one and only gf (although she had boyfriends before him) so I felt this was more about his own jealousy... but, I don't know. Naturally the only place to turn was the even handed thoughtful posters at LRC.
Should a person throw away all pictures/cards/letters and anything else that reminds them of past girlfriends (or boyfriends) once they get married?