I didn't have my kids to have something to love me back, because the truth is that the love you feel for your kids doesn't swing both ways. You have no idea how much you can love someone until you have a kid, (but remember this isn't true for all people, there are people who do not want kids and don't bond with their kids for whatever reason, which is why it's best to be 100% honest about it and not give in if you feel that's not the right path for you.)
The main myth I think a lot of young people have is that kids automatically love you back. That's true of babies. Babies are bursting with love. That doesn't mean that they are not willful and individuals, because they are. Every baby is different, just like every grown person. But the baby stage is extremely short. The thing I like to tell is people is that you're not having a baby, you're having a person. A person full of hopes, dreams, mistakes, annoying habbits, happy moments, sad moments, arguments, and all the things that come along with being a person. And as that person changes from baby to adult, they change, and as they change they grow away from mom and dad and get on with life, which is as it should be.
The thing about relationships is that they take work. They require you to re-commit every single day. To wake up and say: "This is the person for me even though they do this _____ that annoys me to no end." Flirting changes, the way you do things changes. I still flirt with my husband but it's not the same as when we were dating. It's not the same as when we met.
Relationships are like a fire. First there is that flash fire of passion. It's an amazing rush, but no one can sustain that forever. So slowly the fire dies down until it's slow burning embers under the ash. It will keep you warm, but you do have to poke at it with a stick and feed it kindling. And if you have two people who are commited and who really love each other, then that fire can last 50, 60, 70 years. It can even last after one of them passes. It can be that if they are old enough, when one passes, the other goes soon after, because for some it's more like having your arm chopped off than your spouse died.
When people fall out of love it can happen for a lot of reasons. And I think in our society it's very easy for people to fall into the trap of falling out of love. We see so much media about men vs. women, new love vs. old love, betrayal, etc. Kind of that "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. I think a lot of people really don't realize it is work and think it's a magical fairy ride when you say "together forever." It's not but if you work at it, then it's worth it. And, I hope I have that with my husband because I feel I found a good match for me.
And, here's the other thing. "One True Love" I think or "Soul Mate" are the worst words in the human language. Because it doesn't work that way. I prefer the term "Love of my life," really you can find another person and try again if it doesn't work out. There's no "perfect match" for people. But the love of your life is the person you've chosen and you love, and loves you back, and you work together to make it happen through good and bad.
It's like the marriage vows say, they are not words, they are truth. Sickness and Health. Good times and Bad. Richer or Poorer. See, it's not telling you "and they lived happily ever after," is it?