As my dad descends more and more into dementia and my mom into alcoholism, I can only remember the last decade, which has been heartache. These two miserable people are not the people who raised me, and our happy family is a distant memory. I find the old photos very odd and even disturbing - I guess especially that, because of my mom's alcoholism, she has been unable to care for (or about) my dad in years. It's as ugly as things can get. In a strange way it makes me feel good to run the old photos into the shredder. I think it's because I am anxious to look forward and grab onto the rest of my life. I am anxious to enjoy MY future and hoping there is one out there for me when these two are gone. I know, weird, right?
Please don't destroy your photos. There may come a time when you will regret it. Put them away somewhere in a box and don't look at them right now. If, in the future, you'd like to look at them your heart will break knowing that they're gone. And while you may want to destroy them now you will change over time and you may not feel the same way as you do now.