A memory can hurt precisely because it was good.

The memories that hurt most are rarely the bad ones. It is the good afternoon, the easy conversation, the ordinary happiness that you now know had a limit you could not see at the time. Sweetness is what makes a memory painful, because the pain is really the gap between then and now. Nothing about it means the memory has been spoiled.

When a good memory stings, try not to avoid it into storage. Let it be told, written, or shared with someone else who was there. The ache tends to soften with handling while the memory itself gets clearer.