I have two goats – Sophie is the mom and Lily is the daughter.
Lily goes off and explores by herself, even though she is the more frail of the two. Sophie watches and hollers at her if she gets out of sight.
Sophie watches everyone …
and she gets distressed when the other animals – even those not her own species – are out of view.
Everyone needs a traveling buddy – more through life than through actual travels. You need someone to bounce ideas off of and even to keep their finger on your pulse
– for them to say, "How are you really?"
The cool thing is that you don't have to have the same individual be that buddy through your lifespan. Buddies can change over time … you just need to at any given point, have a person be your person.
So, while spouses can count, they are not a requisite to having someone be FOR YOU.
More important than finding this person – is being this person for someone else.
Because we all need someone to keep tabs on us sometimes.
(Lily-goat)