Memories are sometimes like getting hit with a car... they come out of no where

Well, it's true. Somethings from the past do just come out of no where, just like getting hit by a car (or hitting another car as the case may be for me!) I was clearing some old files off my computer today, and came across a few things that I didn't recognize, some old emails that I never sent and some old AIM conversations that I saved for only god knows what reason. And of course, because I'm extremely curious and ridiculously sentimental, I chose to read all of it. Some of the stuff made me smile, but most of it made me cry. Remembering the facts of why those conversations went down, and remembering how I felt while it was happening, why any of it ever had to happen. And as I was just sitting here at my computer, tears just started to spill over, and I couldn't make them stop. Nor did I want to. It felt good to cry, and lately that's all I've wanted to do really, just cry and get that feeling away from me, indulge and release it. But even though I cried, over remembering things that happened months and months ago, even years ago, I didn't erase those files. They reminded me what I went through, and that I don't ever want to go through that again, or ever let myself get that vulnerable. But I also realized that those things are still affecting me, from my friendships to the way I look at myself. And as much as I want to just erase all of that, get rid of it so that everytime I read one of those files i don't cry, I can't. I know that I can't get rid of those files, but I don't know why I can't. Maybe its because I believe that reopening old wounds is good for the soul, or maybe I'm full of shit, which is way more likely. But I'm keeping them reguardless.