Dear Prudence,
16 years ago, my best friend got married. We were all young, the wedding was extravagant, and I was the maid of honor. The bride and groom splurged on an amazing photographer and the pictures turned out beautifully. Unfortunately, their marriage didn’t last, and she is now remarried with two beautiful kids. During their break up, she gave me a bright red box with all of their wedding photos that were too painful to look at. She asked me to keep them safe until her mom could take them or at least until she was done mourning the break up.
Well … it’s been 14 years, and I still have the Damn thing. I’ve asked her repeatedly if she wants them back but she gets upset, and refuses to answer my question. She then ignores me for long durations until I forget, only to be reminded when I see the stupid box. Her mom lives in another country and is a flake, so I don’t want to just mail them to god knows where. But I’ve moved four times in the past 14 years, and I don’t want to be lugging around her wedding album. Someday my kids will be cleaning out my closet and will be the ones disposing of these, or worse, they will think I had some weird attachment to the pictures, and will keep them out of respect. Can I just throw these out and be done with them? It feels wrong but I’m so over it!
— I Don’t Want This Album