I've become increasingly enamored of the term "partner" to describe what I want in a relationship. Not every friendship will reach that depth, but several have. Partnership need not be sexual and/or exclusive. Neither does it have to be confined to people of a certain age or gender.

But what a partnership is not, is transactional. Partners don't keep score. The caring and the sharing are about ourselves as human beings--lives, ideas, feelings, histories, and plans--the whole nine yards.

It makes me want to cheer to read of your resolve no more to settle for relationships that honor only part of who you are. It will take practice to make a habit of that standard, and no doubt it's going to shock a few people. But it's no more than you deserve.