To all the ones they've loved before

From the time your friends start dating, it is expected that you make an effort to get to know their 'significant' others, even if the relationships live for a shorter time than goldfish do.

The first few times, you don't mind.
It's his first girlfriend, her first boyfriend, and you care enough to make everyone happy.

But somewhere along the way, the numbers add up. And when you consider that some people go through boyfriends/girlfriends like they would library books, the enthusiasm dies out.

I have met some really great people that figured in the friends' significant others category. I liked some of them well enough to hang out once in a while; I liked others enough to really appreciate them for who they were, rather than what they were to someone in my life; and there are two or three for whom I felt real regret when the relationships ended, and I lost a friend.

The rules of friendship, ethics and all that is cruel but true, demand that when the relationship ends, so does the association with the significant other.

I have broken this rule once, and never regretted it.
But to all the others that were just not worth the risk of breaking the rules again,
I miss you. It was great knowing you, and thanks for everything.