Starting afresh
I deleted an entire email account today, which I have never done before in my entire life. I have had email accounts die on me by virtue of free hosts going belly-up, and have had email accounts suspended because I didn't log in every 30 days, but I have never of my own volition deleted an entire email account.
When I was visiting my parents last week, Mom told me she burnt all her letters from Dad years ago (she went to university here, and Dad studied in Singapore, so they communicated mostly by post)... and that, when they moved to Sabah last year, she burnt all her journals.
I was like, 
!!!
I can't imagine ever doing a thing like that. Mom said, "I don't need to look back at the past," but to me it's a part of your history, a record of your journey -- why would you ever want to destroy that?!?
As a writer, I hate the mere thought of losing anything I've written, and even hold on quite obsessively to bits of paper with data and information scrawled on 'em. But losing my journals or my blogs is a truly horrific thing to contemplate. And the love letters? Don't even get me started on that!
Be that as it may, I understand that sometimes you need to make a fresh start... and that's why I deleted this particular email account. I had been using it for a specific purpose, and I had decided to stop indulging in that activity, so I deleted the account, pure and simple.
The level of anonymity that the Web gives is sometimes scary. Of course you could probably track down anybody if you had the time, resources and the know-how, but in general, imagine if I were to never give you my real name, or maybe only my first name, and I was careful not to give out any clues as to my whereabouts or much other personal information, never sent you my photo, never gave you my phone number... I could just delete my email account and vanish off the face of the earth and it would be as if I'd never existed. Emails would bounce, instant messenger ID would be invalid, you would have no way of contacting me, no way of knowing where I was and what I was doing or even if I were still alive.
So to all intents and purposes, I've ceased to exist for a certain person. Cutting ties is hard, and maybe I will always wonder about him, but drastic measures are sometimes necessary for one's own peace of mind... especially if there is the danger that one's resolve might waver.