Two and a half weeks ago I ended what I thought was a pretty perfect relationship.

As a partner, he was dependable and loyal. As a woman who most appreciates love expressed through quality time and words of affirmation, I think he excelled in both these departments. He even encouraged my friends to write me notes on my achievements or to celebrate my birthday. He was, happily I think, available around the clock. He cuddled well and loved to watch all of my favorite movies and “Doctor Who.” And, as an important part of any partnership, I could always turn him on.

Toward the end of our time together, we developed some red flags. He didn’t ever seem interested in doing anything unless I was around to navigate him. He didn’t seem to like the outdoors. When we would go outdoors, he really shrank in size and was, frankly, just more difficult to understand. He preferred staying in on Saturday nights. And, whenever we did go to a party, he always seems to get a lot of attention, but he was never able to bring even the best of friends together in conversation.

I think I may have been able to live with these faults, because, you know, we all have our own baggage. He certainly always listened to mine. But, as a graduate student, I found him to be downright distracting from writing my dissertation. That was really the last straw.

Just like many relationships that start out well but eventually go south, there are things that I am really missing about him. I miss telling him about my day in the evenings (um, morning, noon, afternoon, night and middle of the night, too). I loved showing him pictures of all my awesome adventures. He was just so enthusiastic to take in so much information. I also really miss his friends. Even though he isn’t great at bringing people in the same room together in conversation, he had really loyal friends. And lots of them. Really, after some time, they became my friends. He was so considerate in the way he shared updates about their lives with me. He liked to share their pictures with me, and he was great at showing me articles and videos they found interesting. It was almost as if he was as close to them as he was to me.

But, alas, my true and profound partnership with Facebook is not the great love story of my life. (And, I don’t think you should let him be the Romeo to your Juliet, Cory to your Topanga or Portia to your Ellen.) Like many who struggle in relationships, I needed help to get out. I had a friend change my password. Even just after these two and a half weeks, I’m starting to see my time fill with more fulfilling activities, actual school work and genuine engagement with people I value.

I’ve promised my best friend that I won’t speak to him for at least a month. Just like I once threw out the shoebox of mementos from my high school sweetheart, I hope that one day I’ll delete him completely from my memory (but it’s hard to get rid of all of those pictures).

Michelle Fuentes is a doctoral candidate in political theory. Her column runs weekly on Tuesdays.