 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,1 \8 s$ z$ G5 @+ V
) x( S8 D( t7 R5 o. m$ wI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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His name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his7 R, r+ X: V) p% E4 O7 t- r( ?
Books.! }; H$ A% x/ k; ^
2 D$ L2 ]' s$ O% f; u- N# vI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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1 ]6 }: G! X) U4 W) B3 PHe must really be a nerd."
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. S. r; t0 }; f( S$ zI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on." G3 s+ I5 A5 \$ l
8 {# ?, t9 J" TAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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; c" }! d0 U5 G6 DHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
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, S& N' [/ n, l$ J2 H! }2 LMy 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.
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" S5 Y& S2 R# f1 U" [: o, j% u1 xAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.8 @: \( G5 W2 K, ]# b3 h" o* o) x
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They really should get lives.6 q/ @# L, G2 L% p+ p
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.
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It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.4 O! j. I( i0 T8 A
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.! V0 U, J0 R' S c; B, K3 [
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He said he had gone to private school before now.
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, S' _" Q2 `- Z: W5 [% S B O& TI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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: i4 e7 c3 y! B+ x) F$ Y4 VWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.% `: D: S2 ?$ B9 m" i# d8 G. i( U- Q
9 Q# J; T, P; ^9 s- ]7 ~: v, ^; vHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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He said yes.
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: Z4 ]: Y3 |) @* [' [We 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./ K: w v3 Y) J9 \% W
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Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again., [2 x$ T8 J! e' I
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I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
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, P0 j% m5 s: P$ @1 u7 J2 u& P" He just laughed and handed me half the books.7 O& _# Z, _* F4 @1 i
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.2 b; S) \7 X/ D
. q w0 j4 c3 t; }: D. h% E4 A1 oWhen we were seniors, we began to think
7 ~/ n% y% c5 g8 B$ y; SAbout college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
( T) H" v# K% LWas going to Duke.9 @6 Q+ A! D4 e7 d# b8 [: [; z; C
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
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He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.- N0 u4 C' ^7 v+ A9 W+ ]: ], S: |
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Kyle was valedictorian of our class.5 g% C& t/ j1 P3 ?0 r6 h
% }4 d% t7 K1 Q2 M, lI teased him all the time about being a nerd.; W, m" j" f+ u6 Z" |1 q! b
- L K# c) @! W. }He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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0 r9 i/ q4 L6 ~" ]' }/ s5 wGraduation day, I saw Kyle.6 A# R# T( @; u5 y3 n {
1 m/ } ~* S7 a5 C# ?1 t/ n, D2 cHe looked great.0 W% L' }+ w' l2 I: E4 [( _
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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! d! S1 V i. O. DHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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% G9 n! d, }# a3 v: y) wHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.7 @, t" b' l0 U8 U5 G/ I6 `2 ~
$ T; o6 V# @4 S, o" VBoy, sometimes I was jealous.3 l4 h N% V9 u( X/ j' D& O, t
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Today was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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9 D+ T- Z" M: c; ]6 I* b- w8 ~So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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"Thanks," he said.* S" K( z2 @7 V" t& i
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.# y6 C# \# x$ Q; Y( N/ |. E/ g
+ z8 C; T0 I- \' ?% UYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends..." F6 j2 Q9 s6 O7 ?
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
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3 g. F B9 X; \0 q9 B8 CI am going to tell you a story."
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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2 O( @. C; s; z; jHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.5 a& l. r, H1 S
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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./ z+ w: e. a6 g/ M
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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3 v% H3 ~ s$ I* F5 v9 ^"Thankfully, I was saved.
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! z0 v# G( W: q) f2 o' c2 `My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.+ [) i( q+ M% d. F
2 T% x; Y( {6 \I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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& Z) S: D; K8 t/ W6 zWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.& e y, z' X' ` Q" f! B3 ^6 I
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For better or for worse.7 N3 c0 Z" n$ L' \
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God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.1 k) w" ?0 ]. R* |
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Look for God in others.
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You now have two choices, you can:
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* q$ m- D% N; |. f C1) Pass this on to your friends or
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2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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9 L( ?9 B5 _3 U0 r9 T; n( d3 x# T% YAs you can see, I took choice number 1.% A8 @$ x& T Y5 A
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."$ x# j. I m8 f4 d
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There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.( @ p3 Q( G% v& P* k! x
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Tomorrow is mystery., r, u$ w4 H9 W
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Today is a gift.) L7 h# n$ ]3 W& z
3 X5 F6 a- F6 x& M( OIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND./ }- ]* @& I9 j1 A7 U
0 z+ N e, }, |2 C, TIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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