ex gifts

You compliment your partner's cologne - only to learn it was a gift from his last girlfriend.

Are you mad?

That's the question raised in this advice column, where one reader asks if it's weird that her boyfriend has held onto a book from his ex-girlfriend.

Dealing with remnants of former relationships is always kind of a sticky subject. I don't think anybody is obligated to throw away something just because it's part of a relationship that didn't work out.

Then again, if you've been dating someone for a year and he's still bragging about how wonderful his ex's last Christmas gift was, there might be a problem.

Advice?