Opposite-Sex Friends and Married People

I always had guy friends. From elementary school to college, I was friends with boys. We were just friends. I don't think any of them even gave one thought about dating me. There were no kisses. I don't think I even hugged all of them. When I met my husband, who has a jealous streak, he never believed all these guys from my past were just friends. In fact, I told him about one friend from college, and how he and I would play Monopoly all night. My husband thought Monopoly was code for sex. There was no sex. Just Monopoly.

My husband -- and actually many of the people in my family I later learned -- believe that men are only friends with women if they're interested in them romantically. Obviously, none of them met my guy friends. Still, I respected my husband's feelings. I didn't give up any of my friends. But I would never hang out with them alone as I once did, nor do I share secrets or private matters with them anymore. My husband became my best friend, and my relationships with my guy friends changed. They started to get married, too, and they also pulled back. And our spouses started to fulfill our need to philosophize, ponder the future, and play Monopoly all night. That's just fine by all of us. Now, I'm wondering if men and women -- after a certain point in life anyway -- truly can be just friends. What do you think? Can men and women be just friends?