The past is not even past

So I'm trawling through a lot of old email because I'm gearing up to change my email address for the first time in sixteen years.

It feels weird.

Like any move, I only want to port the addresses that are useful, so I've spent the afternoon deleting and merging and cleaning, even emailing a few people whose addresses had no name and no identifying information.  (I'm really really curious about throw_something@blahblahblah.com - it teases at my memory, but I just can't place it.  It was someone I once could identify, so not a totally casual address, but I just can't remember.)

As I was merging a contact, it occurred to me I used to email the merged individual at an entirely different address.  So I went looking to see if I still had the original address (so I could include it in the merge).  No, I didn't.  Which made me curious enough to loop back through my email archive to see whether two years ago (our last contact) I had used the old address first or the new address.

Turns out, I had deleted several messages I know once existed.  I mean, I had an email I had sent (because sent mail gets retained automatically), but I had deleted the response. (I remember getting a response, and its general content, though no specifics.)

Y'all.  Y'ALL.  For a quasi-stalker who is stuck in a current surveillance mode she can't quite relinquish (and thoroughly despises), this is FANTASTIC news.

Because it means I really can let some things go.  I can let things go and not even notice they are gone.

That's good.  That's progress.

Now comes the bigger question, though.  This person in particular, but also some others in the same wash of addresses, do I let them know when I change addresses?  It seems polite, as long as there's no follow up or overly personal framing.  And of course I can delete whatever bounces back.

I'm leaning towards yes, though that's more because it seems a complete and utter pain to have to divide out every email - much simpler to just send one blanket email saying, here's the new way to reach me if you need to - and leave it at that.

Hmmmm.  Change is hard.  Yuck.