Another Era ended...

Well, that's certainly ill news, Voll, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do. In my opinion, it's better to have pre-emptively made this decision rather than dragging it out and causing more internal damage in the process. I've been to that place, and the amount of harm it can cause is a lot worse than you can imagine.

And who knows what could happen in the future? It's better to leave future possiblities open rather than burn those bridges by way of procrastination. Going about the breakup as you have shows that you have her best interests in mind, and by protecting her from possible harm, you keep the relationship between the two of you intact. Had you held off, you would have only been thinking of yourself, and it would have done more harm in the long run.

Anyway, good luck.