 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
( ~* \6 d" G8 b: _, \2 A, ^) w+ n! I2 g5 b
I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school., D' i' q7 d7 S0 f1 g; w! I; b# ^
! @! l% Z2 Q# rHis name was Kyle.
# M. d3 y. P( c% Q
8 |5 U, U% ]/ @It looked like he was carrying all of his
, y: f' ?5 @0 n0 k& W. G7 cBooks.# Q: i: B- o5 A8 Q0 v R
6 y, O( x# X* H) R: CI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
w v, ? h5 |* N4 _) q' w* R- [* X9 X& U+ m
He must really be a nerd."
0 Z0 S" M; ~2 J& T
, l; E( W- \5 g7 Q. g/ R/ XI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.6 v- w w1 t- ]" t, b" s% H
. s, M& f& Q4 K
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.. `$ i, n" |( l: D3 i7 T/ {
! d6 ?7 N- C a0 @6 c. D
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
$ b& T# W* i/ f6 Q2 O/ e- i
" z: h& i" m% @4 XHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
' p: |4 M$ N, L0 v: F( Q' ^' i ?& Q o. Z, g2 U
He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes, O; U. p ^4 q6 S, M2 Q1 Q' \
( a5 r4 @, g. rMy 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.
. P( l( ~2 r2 X4 r( w/ n9 `' t4 F
: H2 T" R0 e1 y7 T! lAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
6 I1 Z5 i Z( Y2 F; V$ L+ Q% m# y% D0 Z' V3 N! j; P* D
They really should get lives.* Q& U5 }3 s( B) N/ h: ?
( Z$ ?/ k# L# o& {
" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"& A5 }. H- R7 K9 H! X
7 o& f4 [# t% o1 T3 s
There was a big smile on his face.
& d _4 K' H9 M% S7 p$ z1 Q7 @/ W3 b) C* M
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.) R/ Z8 T$ W3 E, o2 W; G0 X( v
2 J# @6 q0 j, L$ mI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
& _' t/ M, t8 o8 J/ l- z" \. ]6 t6 t& O% O
As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.$ Z- q' V& h9 x! r/ b' b2 c: v
5 _# B# \ G W5 M+ d
He said he had gone to private school before now.% ?- Q: |# t2 u: a9 W! U+ B2 [
& L4 J9 K( ]' Q1 s4 w
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
3 @+ J6 \& q- b0 w8 e/ h$ l' f+ i# w, D0 Q9 E
We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.9 R/ S" k, Y6 K1 u% ^% c3 `
8 T4 B( q, y1 j# A; Y' I3 r$ t. rHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
, K. Y. t: z+ @& _* Y4 m5 k/ ? X' Y. A
I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
9 J+ g* N j1 {* p/ W: Z9 o+ q9 |9 K# v7 i7 X. W
He said yes.
% g5 W; g1 d. i4 W- q# s% H% q8 S# M& b( S( L$ s6 m
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.
G/ [# Y% D. W3 b3 i2 g Q9 x. {8 A6 F# x! t
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
6 m$ V+ \# m( ?+ L
0 Z ^9 n2 v2 o2 G* ]. q' j7 ?I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!3 w% [* `. Z1 `
) W- Q9 W4 F1 A' n
" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
7 D# ~$ M K4 f5 \# C1 N- x
! k3 \) ^1 j/ ]9 LOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
( B% f6 y4 T% P2 R; g8 m
+ h# X, a4 g( Y8 M+ L' G4 y% WWhen we were seniors, we began to think2 f$ j! y4 Q/ ]0 d J' @
About college.9 l( U2 E% I* g% j5 V( W8 S
7 i8 M! V5 T XKyle decided on Georgetown, and I7 g/ G# C4 v: I& _7 m
Was going to Duke./ E' {: n C% D* F
& L6 \6 [1 Q7 h4 R- S; f
I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
; ~. F6 L0 C$ R) E2 W! H3 @* i+ B" w
He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.5 p2 e! c/ z4 d) s
1 r. K4 G" f( ~. l
Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
- S M3 \ N2 ?5 D5 l7 r; S+ S, R9 e1 T
I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
) S- b* M* B5 }' v2 h1 q& h/ \+ N( Y6 I! k" \& I/ H
He had to prepare a speech for graduation./ v' |8 s1 s- E5 t: m& ?3 c( Y2 N/ L- e
& b* G8 P6 z [I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
9 c# o5 O6 g3 N- o/ z/ E3 q
' Y7 x" a7 z5 E1 w, I2 a UGraduation day, I saw Kyle." b2 D" I3 X- u! I" A& {1 a
+ O0 L; l8 L2 @0 rHe looked great.
- s/ |9 y: G# H$ k1 }) g, ^, F) s3 W% s' ~
He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
& Z, t, @+ P1 n; [# i5 ]
i" ]+ P/ S! _4 \He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.1 V' w' d: p& t' \& M0 O! g
- y: ?: _: h# f7 O8 lHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.+ T9 ^2 S7 m$ @
4 n6 c- q' [, ~) a3 H3 C f
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
3 A& H* f& q" J) z4 N [4 \/ P; x4 R. d2 O& ]/ K- I I* m+ V) J
Today was one of those days.
# ]# i4 S0 j9 Z1 Z: x
( C7 u: _4 F+ }" b! F( II could see that he was nervous about his speech.0 \0 \- G: {( S" i% x
' n0 \ T0 r7 N9 o
So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
& R x% c0 R/ N: V" h& A5 U7 W4 P9 K- ~
He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
! T1 u5 [7 ^! X$ z
# z2 T6 Z7 ?8 Z. Z) a6 p0 D"Thanks," he said.
- U6 f$ O; }& r: C5 `6 f) `" r6 y' K/ ~. a" N5 D
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. ]* {4 K0 Y# J7 e9 N
# u: G7 L+ T" M: f: D" v
"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
1 k+ `5 \$ Y8 R: I( u
& n4 E- b7 K- R9 {: }% lYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...5 ^5 ]! |! L+ k4 t, `5 g
7 ?% B3 [$ F6 S& P; B$ o- E
I am here to tell all of you that being a2 a+ l% l1 a! I* S
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.. b% e* U: W' [5 a# L
& j( I- Q8 [6 `9 _
I am going to tell you a story."& _; [0 F+ n1 _* P5 U! w5 \
" T7 U% \8 h9 Z5 _- c1 f: y
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.- J) u3 p& t- e; F* G: s. E! W
: y5 D, K& p8 F. }1 T: [/ I
He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
8 Z& Q! t! A8 e& y& a0 [$ q2 ^# Z" z3 \0 M7 a# ?
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. n/ `' A8 B5 ]8 J' _4 m1 c
: n% B6 c% s- }! L- ^He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.. L9 l! q) M3 q$ |$ V; l6 C% g
0 _6 @7 @' ~ `- u/ Y) ?+ e* X' X5 H4 X
"Thankfully, I was saved.
! f! w- s6 @; H) o' O) H7 J' m* u
9 O7 d8 z. _7 |2 w9 I2 Y; rMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." ?4 u$ C8 x/ C
' g7 R1 S2 E6 |
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
* G* J, _5 _+ m
/ J W) J$ J- C8 V" o3 |" h: `" fI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.0 q( k7 S8 K# t! i' Y
/ S7 \% \2 b7 y% m% G/ I; \% [
Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.( H0 U5 o2 U( }) I
$ W8 v# Y& W. K, U" w1 F& v3 r
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
e; w; ^' a5 j) K$ t+ Y* V6 s. ^0 n+ ]( _' Q3 Y$ i) _
With one small gesture you can change a person's life.6 N- `2 `( I+ W0 ]$ s2 ^( g
( A4 w/ V0 W3 c6 Y+ [For better or for worse.
! K e( R7 u, N D1 r% s! ^6 z: q+ Y0 J! E
God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
; U4 j* v k# ?+ c8 B! a. o. X
: {7 u) q+ x) yLook for God in others.( E% l% R, z1 I7 B2 K+ D- y
4 f/ M |; X' K( z4 O8 ]
You now have two choices, you can:
9 X) f( g* T9 L9 O' c; e; m* L' F9 t0 x4 j
1) Pass this on to your friends or
5 Y! d2 R: `% [: |9 Z$ ` D
/ H9 h# D1 |- W" a2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
; P: p& z- C; E0 ?7 m- J
: T/ w: c7 \' \9 P0 B8 w& GAs you can see, I took choice number 1.& [) R! S/ f4 L1 v7 _7 S
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."; Z8 z0 d" V. K
- D {8 V `4 R# I2 {$ i7 W
There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.- I$ u, k# e! G! i1 N/ X
7 {+ t ]% R5 f1 T0 \; I
Tomorrow is mystery.
3 j, p3 U/ B- x4 n9 G" f" u" y$ g \. n" y2 _0 r0 F2 a
Today is a gift.
* U! z2 m6 w' r; a. v( X4 r; D# ^% u/ r
It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.8 s: B; m9 D- J2 p- ?5 P9 h
5 P, U1 i3 L& H4 U% _( Y' H0 c
If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
|