My partner and I have been together 18 months. We each have a property but spend 95% of the time at mine as I have children from a previous relationship. Our plan is to sell each property and buy a house together next year. We are selling his place first as he doesn't use it much and whilst clearing out a cupboard I found a leather bound scrapbook from his ex.
He's told me before that they had a 5 year on/off relationship but ultimately she left him with a key on the doormat. He said it wasn't a surprise at the time and the relationship had been over for a while, but he decided he wouldn't go back to that relationship anymore. So he signed up to a dating website a few weeks later and then we met.
This scrapbook contains their first messages, all the flowers he bought her, concerts and date nights but also tough times when they broke up and a miscarriage (he'dalready told me about that). It ends with a message to him saying thank you to my best friend. She says sorry for the times she hurt him and she'll always love their memories together. She knows he'll do great things and hopes his next chapter sees him achieve his goals.
It feels like a goodbye type thing, but I'm not sure of the point. How do you move on when everything is brought back up? Is it a parting gift? Why bring all this up to say goodbye? He's obviously kept it. What's surprised me is that he's taken to me places they went, done the same things with me but never bought me flowers. He says he's a practical person and flowers just die so doesn't buy flowers. Yet apparently he did.
I'm feeling quite upset about it all now.