Omg yes!! So well said. My work spouses over the years were truly the sanity checks I so desperately needed. And although I haven’t read the other comments yet (as I never want to read comments on an article before I get my views out there) I can almost guarantee some folks (of a different era or different gender maybe) won’t get what you describe. For me (and sounds like the author too), this was never about flirting or subconscious emotional cheating or anything that (usually) guys might assume - perhaps some work spouses had a different view but I never felt hit on or uncomfortable with any of them. To be a work spouse simply meant someone you could hang with, who ‘got you’ and could be a supportive and fun friend - just like your true spouse can be in day to day life - yet purely for the work environment and without any sexual undertones or innuendo (that would not be a work spouse in my definition) They aren’t meant to be lasting friendships outside of the office environment or after someone quits and moves on. (Like the author says with the 5 names she rattled off, they are truly just work spouses who are there only for that particular job or company.) And when you remember them it’s with a smile or maybe a laugh and true gratitude for friendship that is hard to describe to anyone who doesn’t have one.

Thanks for memorializing this special relationship from the 90’s and 00’s.