You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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9 H9 W& L# k/ X+ Y) bI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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4 B5 p/ {9 a6 U+ ?His name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
3 J* B# z) ^9 KBooks.
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
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" t" S) u$ E/ k1 g8 j( Q7 zAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

, U. Q" @, w5 V( i1 vThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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7 P. L2 O! l  p: _3 L8 _His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes

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.
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
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$ F1 W. u6 b# w$ r9 `2 ?They really should get lives.
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+ f+ b/ o$ j3 V, c$ m! r" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.

! y& f5 B! F0 u- K& q3 WIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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, R; I6 F" @9 n) sAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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He said he had gone to private school before now.

3 ?+ V) u: e& q; JI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

0 {9 s, I/ H  D' p0 J, I  wWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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5 a4 ~* s/ y; H5 p! oHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

6 \3 S& c5 F: n9 c% Y- a1 z- ]$ cI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He said yes.
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' c+ q. Y8 a$ ~9 D' l+ u6 ]' lWe 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.
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# _9 P  A3 m, f- B3 ]) t) SMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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3 v. U0 K2 c3 n" I& Q) I* y% U; ?I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

1 c- d  c5 \+ Y) K6 qOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

0 h2 q- h& g: {/ o- iKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.
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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.

/ _" |9 ?) S2 L6 b/ d- X) Y  G  mKyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

6 u) {! m7 n: cI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.

* L0 h: j2 r+ U7 F8 }# k/ h! B- h' |He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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! o7 X! }2 g2 |# R# h: WHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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; k) O' S) n7 T) D6 q+ [1 k1 OHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

1 M5 D! }1 K6 e% ^9 ^$ B"Thanks," he said.
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. w+ z% ~. T6 w& {0 l) f% ~As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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  @( \+ p# a; }: {4 x"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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& ^' {. d, ^7 q/ I$ F5 C& |Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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: u( M) ~1 n$ l. R$ aI am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

: U* S; C; ~, s& Y8 eI am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

2 f9 f6 U1 g$ z  J. S7 {He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

/ K4 F0 m! b, N; f( P0 o( O) tHe 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.
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+ b9 D/ C! ]% Z8 ^2 h$ eHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
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I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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' P' \9 {' F  P/ a$ lNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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0 O5 K' X5 y4 c6 P5 A3 [( dFor better or for worse.
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4 Y. d# m! d& P5 ^$ MGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

  X& U, z; e& O; I4 A& \% nLook for God in others.
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You now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or
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/ e% M! J* x' u! Y9 W2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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1 S# z; B; N6 D2 I+ yAs 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."
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There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.
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* G8 e9 W& r+ M  ~9 e  \, i$ aIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

- d( C! T/ Y1 w0 x- k3 o6 @If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.