 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
One day, when I was a freshman in high school,1 x) w2 ]/ G' K* W" m9 {8 w+ o4 @& B1 O
4 [' H# z7 N! r: gI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.2 x% X R* W$ [9 y3 b" o( M9 v* w) Z
3 S& w q! u: i
His name was Kyle.
( T/ U( u. ?1 A2 c* U0 i' r; D
, o% p$ p1 L4 C B; j% CIt looked like he was carrying all of his) p8 c, R0 ?% U# {3 _* D, ?
Books.- j& J6 e8 c* ~- x2 W( }0 W
" k% M0 @! ]; {! I) S# E
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
# U4 v1 @3 R9 X
' I& S% ]0 u M& i# {0 \He must really be a nerd."( X: h( l9 Y y/ r D! ` v* R
; K8 {$ o7 K0 J: _I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
$ t) {+ y" t% j+ y8 P2 ^8 p5 E' O/ S" e: X o' i* ^. u8 d7 s
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.! @+ n, k' x& V. D3 @7 K
8 H% ^0 v# r% _* X. OThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. ]; p! S7 _( l+ ?. W
0 e% V3 g0 M+ PHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.6 j/ [) O& O _+ F2 p; E. I; p0 F; [) d
1 k: y' r4 K, K+ @" o( p! }He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
3 D5 ^* X( a4 F4 {- C2 T7 c: ]; E0 c/ G! E Z* z+ C( v$ x
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.
. Z: T5 A5 h( q% J# R4 R
% ~( S: i% ]( P1 d5 B. E2 {As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
- s0 M! G8 o# m; R; a3 U
2 `- U$ `# E& | q+ n, JThey really should get lives.8 S" W7 Z" N! U$ i
4 p, _6 h& L |- {4 C; Y" D
" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"! M# u2 Y/ z5 X, G: E
0 V( z6 S4 P; }- d# W8 G( |- H
There was a big smile on his face.* G! d4 T/ O) a/ `5 v/ A; M
) h1 s k0 `# ^8 V* n/ |6 VIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.7 U M9 _7 t" T. G
Y" W- b! |: d# A9 b1 F5 G
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
7 L2 J& r# A& W" Y6 v, t1 s5 _+ x' W6 I3 K% s( d
As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
3 P: s7 E7 C' X! y$ Z8 f( W0 m+ |5 Z( }: `5 M
He said he had gone to private school before now., q3 j8 D0 ]. u7 O
7 c0 m' k/ E. u' w/ B% w
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. O1 Y8 X6 s* B- u8 U3 G! n
$ m7 s8 t: X' z4 [
We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
6 Z% K5 |: D T& G& \" A3 n3 b. {) m$ O
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.4 m1 Z4 B9 c4 x. U' N# E
1 `# ~# R: D9 b1 k9 C0 P: s
I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
) f. a+ V5 e8 ^: r* C9 D
6 b* S* g' L/ M: k" I4 }& gHe said yes.
0 w3 O- {9 s4 O" o% s; D) u7 A& `8 h. s) Y
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., p7 _0 b( x7 w* D
0 n0 D' W f6 C4 x
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
1 Y& y: ^5 D0 U; P6 e
* |6 l! x% ~8 u; FI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
) X8 h( d0 G# P) d; ~5 e7 V
8 _# S' ~! I2 `/ R# e" He just laughed and handed me half the books.# U' s. \* m7 U! b+ Q9 N' F2 J2 C
0 d/ ^( e+ w0 w( U5 TOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.) ?8 k: D- Q! R6 h
8 g2 [7 R# g( ^7 n$ R: sWhen we were seniors, we began to think9 J# w, U5 @3 a' k1 ^3 S9 |
About college.; t& a2 f+ o8 @+ F- K
: D, t. N. c' T$ O% q
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I5 p' B1 t7 f& q8 A+ ^! T0 }
Was going to Duke.8 T% Q0 i* h6 u* s1 r, S3 R9 o
: [2 k6 k3 C" z* B6 C' J/ } N
I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.2 z9 h: g- ^' R' x. p9 X9 ^# s1 t: Q
: [* N, c8 _) i, K6 C2 k
He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship." f2 D! X) S' I; t7 J
/ k' z0 N% [0 o1 L3 \
Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
, u9 A! }8 x7 N1 u& Z+ {8 r# z# I) {. r; B0 n
I teased him all the time about being a nerd.5 }* y; X- K% A+ g; e0 |1 `% g
/ U' H3 y9 D5 t+ p0 zHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.
( K" c' P5 \) X
* _- s0 r8 `; |. w% K4 r8 QI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
7 b' @: k4 W7 q/ `$ r% r6 s# V, Q: S/ b7 Z1 d( h0 I3 C- h
Graduation day, I saw Kyle.: u7 i& Q/ c; A6 w* e
% K2 T" r4 N* S/ S# t. K+ w2 h
He looked great.& W8 f: q2 c5 g3 N# B
( y* i+ g2 S- a" D2 o
He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.! j& }1 r0 k2 [2 K6 j( `0 W
2 p* ?1 N/ f% H9 ?6 fHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
6 V* v' t5 ~& f4 e9 R! l
; c: t K) n% C" L3 ~He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.4 N$ ^: x! F4 t, O C/ v
; l; }8 z8 S: N8 `
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
( N# |3 n/ s) I' i, m3 i7 p7 {/ C1 k& f/ g4 R5 F1 e
Today was one of those days.& k& G4 T1 |2 y0 U$ n( |
/ L y* z" s, {
I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
, i# U8 B1 U9 E6 _4 c
+ S$ y/ j% P3 h$ \3 jSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"# p4 t) N. E- W9 N) \
7 Y& _6 D5 w5 u3 ]( ]. gHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
, H3 ?9 A% e0 t$ ?3 Q( u; G* w! C3 ]) J2 N6 j" a. a* G& ]. n! C
"Thanks," he said.
# o' g2 m. Z, v. P) X8 y5 t, \- H9 }- C# ?9 M! m9 v; L
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
) B5 W P J& Y* K
) e1 m% D' q- s; e* ^"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.+ T0 l. n% ]1 v5 v- W+ J
, S& j! P1 D, i* oYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
# F6 j, k7 f5 O- q' c! ]% G
3 X5 y$ K6 n/ ?1 \+ p3 rI am here to tell all of you that being a5 {$ A2 [7 \' U( k L/ w, ~# p
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
) ~9 x: K9 O% }# F) E. L% n' \
/ s$ [* S" p% r6 j6 V4 tI am going to tell you a story."
1 z7 G& K$ }/ w
; s& J$ X. l$ G* s8 nI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
4 | e/ o/ F. ^8 b8 T' @# N8 w; V+ |. c* V! Z0 g8 \
He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.5 k: w, @2 M# @- W8 o- ~ o! J/ T
# i+ f8 R5 [2 T8 t0 V
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.
# t. o E$ S4 m* s4 R* \% u2 F. @5 l k0 z+ |1 `
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.' y& S' S1 Q1 Z! X. S# @
5 Y1 K+ v8 d3 X! J* f3 |/ V' e6 Y"Thankfully, I was saved.
6 O3 P' l& z& N2 {- x7 R& R. }/ O$ H( p$ g$ I7 q2 f
My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."& ~6 D1 Q# X' Y. @1 j. {* ^% |( K
- [8 j; P- q, ]
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
* x* N d9 a; \0 a" H$ }" j @4 B6 o. t/ m
I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.. ]6 d; S9 v$ M
% Q" c9 J, f! a4 CNot until that moment did I realize it's depth., J8 }$ q5 j2 m* G# S
" ?0 X5 [( }: r6 n! J y( y" A6 F
Never underestimate the power of your actions.' i$ k# C0 _3 Z5 _, u
" C* f' O8 H" a1 DWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.
0 N7 ]! }, V' v( Q# q3 B( @. E! E. k1 a, v7 {9 ^
For better or for worse.
7 k0 ]5 f. D: B
* A+ Z- r" e j2 g2 l0 dGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.! ~7 Q) b; m4 }9 F6 C9 ]
" G* F- B' M5 j9 N. `$ @& i( zLook for God in others.3 E' x4 z; n T% X/ V* o% O; U
7 ^, [+ p E6 X/ `
You now have two choices, you can:
# } F6 [ o- G- t3 Q0 L" ]8 j! }1 E O5 F( I
1) Pass this on to your friends or2 h: W6 a! r% ]4 \2 w- q
( j% _# S) M1 r2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.* _! s! F9 L: Y& C! g
% N% l4 Z; x% g! m @0 y8 gAs you can see, I took choice number 1.. X. H" v( Y) l( k: {% z$ Z
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.") a7 ^3 @) @$ v @: x! g
6 h( F' ~* }1 d. @: ` |There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
* @3 Q* [9 H5 T: Q! M, @9 E/ T" M' j+ p. G+ W9 r/ A: R
Tomorrow is mystery.% ~6 T4 `# D+ z2 ?) C) s
& ?, u t) S* q7 Y( l5 Q
Today is a gift.* B& R. _+ D" G( L
5 R# a; ?; D2 XIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
! a( Q) j) b+ @+ G- P$ B. |- x: A0 c, h' M; N
If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
|