You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,

I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
- ^) R7 ^/ f) b8 T$ x; v" [. i
His name was Kyle.

  A. p2 I' e6 c0 R- UIt looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.

I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
" Z* s6 u- G4 v; r5 L% _, c1 A
  }$ V  s7 J" R4 C% H8 {7 mHe must really be a nerd."
* v7 S3 Z! g" k  ^
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

- W. l5 A  g/ L" _: Z3 EAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

2 B$ l1 `+ m7 m4 KThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

2 y2 u! r/ ~1 v5 ?2 dHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
' m; w$ X  l8 T0 l1 G, j
1 h. `% Z& ], W* {He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
+ W3 V) q& k/ v
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.
. W- ?9 |9 @: ], M' g9 ^1 @  e
8 a: v2 y9 S" D5 P1 C- {5 ?! C) tAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
; Q% |2 {, A  E6 t
They really should get lives.
$ W. K6 B6 O* Q
" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
* |- ^1 [/ C4 Y, c
! a9 B3 ~# l6 L$ E/ _9 i$ nThere was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

8 D) P4 H8 c3 V8 ^He said he had gone to private school before now.
+ P5 y8 s& V& v9 K7 }8 M5 K# h
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
# ?! x) s, o% {- ~
We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
* [) L) ?- D3 ]
9 d, H% P! o9 A. w( c7 R, yHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

9 N+ u0 P8 y7 Z9 `- ]) d* kI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He said yes.
. V9 e: ^5 W5 e4 R* k# s- y
. K! r0 X  s  m" M! j4 n) gWe hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

. e, B" z4 b: x5 H# ZMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
# b* s8 ]; i5 x
I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
# H; ?* r# [9 J' D$ q
3 t$ A8 Y9 r0 q, m) {" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
$ @1 o, U) t* I; X3 k7 L3 z
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
3 |9 n3 F  k) g# L! ^+ n) \$ A3 A
1 U9 D2 p. Y$ c( jWhen we were seniors, we began to think
7 F* W6 P1 M, B) `, pAbout college.

2 I+ ?, U2 g" c. x* C7 r, vKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.

/ `* G4 ?2 `. _9 o1 e, @  I; mI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.

He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

& j, ]/ V4 o8 \. P' `I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
$ E4 Y; s3 K! R! b8 k
0 z& a+ T( ^0 e2 b2 e& M5 g. d0 fHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
' v! g+ l0 r& [, s7 ^0 g
  a+ H6 `) F6 o) NGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

2 s; g/ K' a/ ~9 ]6 nHe looked great.

1 a# d: Q* w6 x$ c, n0 z4 iHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

. H$ n' e6 j$ LHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

* O9 H+ F* Y3 ?9 u. ^He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

: i6 r: [; S4 _& t$ fToday was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
- F$ x8 T) M+ |$ _$ V; r7 N- o0 N
3 i: `3 g' J& xSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
7 x+ R. `$ L9 k2 w! X9 A
2 Z4 U/ {5 x9 _He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

"Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began

( b; y3 S) r- _"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
0 @* O; i3 b/ L) t# ?3 [0 @
# ^& u" d  [) g, WYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
% O: l" |! E7 f# Q. X
I am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
# w; |9 w# ]2 {) G! s
I am going to tell you a story."
' e! T' d* F. W* C9 z, h; x
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
" a& K) f  A1 m$ ?' [. K
& J% v* [9 p8 o7 qHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
- q+ N: R$ e" p& ~/ z3 E$ R( C
He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.

% a6 J* _. Q) {% eHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
8 _( [: D/ U; B* p* b
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
, m5 q- d& a/ \' z& W( n
Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
+ }$ T* L( v, e  y& }1 i
Never underestimate the power of your actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

& D# u3 n  \, t" e7 LFor better or for worse.
: A% c  }! D+ }- x: A
8 M$ F; m) ]: s: G$ @+ YGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
) g$ F6 K: j+ a
+ P4 C- P* E$ e( F6 PLook for God in others.
: ~* b. O/ a; I: W& e3 U# i
/ c$ x  ^( q* ?: |3 M  aYou now have two choices, you can:

! i6 g1 Y' {  |2 y1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

4 g6 K2 ~# ~4 a0 v4 k& BAs you can see, I took choice number 1.
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

: e5 B! |* a- ~% ?4 LThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
9 Z4 [/ m$ Q5 |9 u
& t/ i2 l4 \1 p. BTomorrow is mystery.
8 g9 @7 ]. R5 J( t* q) `1 ~
9 ~$ S. ^+ P4 l/ HToday is a gift.

2 y& t& u6 {# C, @4 u# jIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
# Z, A8 \4 _+ W" G2 `+ f4 c
0 U/ Y; T) c- O. a; i5 LIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.
. }, W" d" ^7 z( Q6 ^
Today is a gift.