In my panic, I suddenly realized how much I loved my friend Jessica, and what an irreplaceable friend she was.Although I was the faster swimmer, I fell back to protect her.In the end, the "shark" proved to be imaginary.But not my deep emotional feelings for my friend.It felt great back on the beach, a little scared and laughing with the excitement of being alive.We looked into each other's eyes and Jessica spontaneously said," I love you!" "Love you too!" I replied.As I spoke, I realized just how gender-based my communication styles were.With women, I could be open, emotionally honest, and transparent.With male friends, it seemed impossible to express caring feelings no matter how deep the friendship was.I could easily utter "I love you" to my mother, my sisters and girlfriends;yet not once in my life had I been able to look a male friend in the eye and say the same thing.Quite impossible! Was this just me or was every male in the world similarly cursed?Was I emotionally backward or just a "guy"? I was determined to find out!
