You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
5 a' f' h" I6 i
3 F/ b: o7 T+ t4 f1 f1 j6 X0 k3 A5 @I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

' y" b7 O+ n1 d6 B8 z$ hHis name was Kyle.
  }/ K$ O2 u+ F: a5 \  l( a/ u& w
It looked like he was carrying all of his
0 \8 c: [. T' K2 _Books.
* ?$ r+ |6 `3 H; a/ e
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
- K! N& D) @' U+ C
He must really be a nerd."
9 Q' F7 U) Q+ z! _! W( V
6 N1 g" A2 x. d9 SI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

! J/ M2 p; q+ u$ b3 j8 @As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

4 p; p! ~  ^: S! k2 z* l2 rThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

: A7 w2 Q( e/ RHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
4 I" S8 ]( E' o6 _
7 M, G. T3 B3 u, nHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
2 e( G2 ~7 v/ u( e/ X5 t
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.
/ U- q3 K! `- Q( Y
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
' I/ ?! z& q1 t4 c
, z4 Q0 \& \8 u, k( S: H9 @They really should get lives.

" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

There was a big smile on his face.

* f7 P  _- H6 n1 ^3 o8 E/ y) lIt 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.
. a4 i3 H$ f/ |. D; p
He said he had gone to private school before now.
* t  V$ a# b) C5 h7 @( ^: F9 W9 C+ s; O
6 H! ^; n3 I, v9 [& J0 j* E$ ~* b3 iI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
" ~# k; ~' _& P8 W
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

& ]; n; @. a% u8 W9 }I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He said yes.

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.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

9 r6 L; D& v& X8 Q/ h* b0 k& wI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
$ M+ p/ `# Y1 V5 V" P3 s) G* }
5 x" K" }' w& x* P; P- Z9 M; U, K4 \" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
' k4 |0 `3 f8 R0 M
% l- w/ k7 p  C6 q# o% O. l& rOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
0 [% D- D2 j5 E$ |6 H
# x2 y# E. f8 E5 D# H1 xWhen we were seniors, we began to think
About college.
7 P# F. f+ {& r
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.
; G0 O6 t% w2 U
I 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.

, p, t- m; t" u0 L% J" hI teased him all the time about being a nerd.

/ L8 ^" X/ j" W- a+ J7 FHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.

! m( F' B. ~9 M$ `$ `( Z$ Q3 B: aI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

Graduation day, I saw Kyle.

: K7 B7 u; x' Y$ i/ z8 kHe looked great.
" x  X; G( ~' a  _* N0 j/ [& V8 P
He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
9 u& C2 P9 {$ K3 |
6 d+ B7 w" I6 r& t+ |7 i1 t2 y( VHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
! e9 N0 [' _. U
He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

$ @+ C' J1 j! [. }5 [Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
) M! M- d: W2 ?- t6 D- P: W7 f2 H6 c% W( }
  [3 s, j* W* e8 `Today was one of those days.

9 c/ Y3 d# i  L' XI could see that he was nervous about his speech.
. F  K8 u' q) F! C' t
6 c% s* t- @; @1 i9 N, b% a2 j( aSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
, g0 w; I5 t0 E$ h
He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

"Thanks," he said.
8 o. D' ]  }- G' I- Z
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began

* J6 V9 q7 r1 ^: q, x" k2 s6 D"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
4 {8 s4 t; x- F5 D2 i
Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
) y. b$ e2 x5 D9 f! Y  F
- c/ I/ b. l- G1 ^9 _( _I am here to tell all of you that being a
" u+ |  N- F, y$ q( |Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

/ \6 |8 p; [. X$ e3 k: w  iI am going to tell you a story."

& O. B" e8 U2 w; q2 \8 WI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
/ o* i7 z. \" @' t
, s0 W7 v- p/ Y5 p. CHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
  j; F/ g7 j' j- u
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.
& }8 p* s2 D' j# d" I& [7 `, I& l
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
6 i0 n* X5 L! L5 D5 o$ U8 E
# J% G: ]% w5 Z$ T: s1 \"Thankfully, I was saved.

$ |1 j  m! ^( }( x) FMy 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.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
8 |) r+ o* }& |
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
- u8 ^+ L9 {3 V! q; d$ G
With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.
7 A% s( q0 B, l
' p( m6 b( E0 t4 M2 XGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

5 v2 G5 _/ K% NYou now have two choices, you can:

' Y; v5 a2 Q' \7 ^. I8 ?, }# ~1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
: j/ h# o& F3 h5 v3 \
* ?7 Y! v! ]3 E) ]+ ~$ eAs 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."
- X, h; A5 [" h6 t1 k4 k
: b1 s) k5 u( G0 ?/ hThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

! C5 _( V4 f' R9 z, ]( h/ YToday is a gift.
2 p/ B" |" u6 T2 e; v
It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

  l0 k1 i& I3 n; U9 |8 }If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.
# {, c# X' C$ A% y6 I) ?
Tomorrow is mystery.

3 {3 ~  F2 S* xToday is a gift.