Hello friends, I read everything and thought about it and acted on it, and wanted to comment the resolution.
First, thank you all SO much for your care and advice! ๐ฉต๐ณ๏ธโโง๏ธ
I made a folder to drag the old pictures into, but I was still having trouble on the emotional side when I tried actually doing it. I talked to my partner about the struggle, and she offered to save then delete them for me, and then to go in and untag anything with my face. I gratefully accepted, and she did it. Problem solved (with help and extra steps)
Thank you all, wonderful humans!