You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,

1 w% I% X+ C0 p  {' bI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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His name was Kyle.
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7 Z- y0 q6 V0 S# P$ L; KIt looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.
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# d  B( v( S/ r+ X' ]( E8 a2 J1 ?I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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9 H9 O. A0 k# HHe must really be a nerd."

, b% ?$ g3 o$ W+ b; _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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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

9 v3 W" j9 v2 h$ J7 @0 m. X- ^  LThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

% b/ h' e$ l. y' T' _1 VHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

: b# A) v& O& `, b" l" p, P8 U9 JHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
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% e8 ^2 j( k  I  `3 ]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.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

2 \2 S6 l/ E& _7 F8 WThey really should get lives.
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2 S8 b7 }6 ~1 B8 C" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

There was a big smile on his face.

$ M$ R* T9 A$ O7 ]It 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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2 W( p9 R. W, W& \; [1 a- i1 @" |As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

He said he had gone to private school before now.
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$ k% }9 f2 g, b5 G7 cI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

$ K7 O, w0 I* L3 |& YI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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+ X6 w$ s4 `$ P9 G- _- KHe said yes.
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$ z' t4 B7 Y: I) ]% i2 S3 WWe 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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Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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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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" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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5 N# [  s6 A7 BOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

) O4 L7 j0 a$ U& v/ }Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
" M1 w$ F( C1 Q; g# HWas going to Duke.

I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
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  _, K* ]# @# D) WHe was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

1 ~. g6 S1 f! O0 e* N$ SI teased him all the time about being a nerd.

4 m0 c  `0 A4 X; n+ RHe 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

% q( z0 B* @' j9 h1 O  T8 _; s0 SGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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7 D$ V3 d  u- m- d' l! j6 e* n7 HHe looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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4 o3 f( ]3 c1 V( Z$ t6 n4 `3 W7 [Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
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Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech.

. ?2 j; D# Q2 t$ F( Z' mSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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"Thanks," he said.
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! v" W0 T4 }8 X% @" sAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began

+ J9 A; x, ^) Q: x7 S- o9 c" o"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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$ |, v" `2 h" ^+ \9 A& u& z2 ~Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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; |: m: D" K. {; nI am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

& ~  L1 c! T* e) w! A$ C# II 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.
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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9 A! ], Z7 D4 p/ N  {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.
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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"Thankfully, I was saved.

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.
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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.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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' ~/ M3 g6 @$ b7 _  rWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

0 z) l7 Q" l& O! y0 G$ hGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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9 M6 V; R7 m3 |/ o) F/ dLook for God in others.

$ O' m" Z4 z( X4 n2 U; sYou now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or
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( M) r, [- [! O6 K7 O" z2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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7 n' I# ^0 r" F. AAs 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.
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Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.

; `/ d/ Q/ s- H1 g$ Y# g1 @- fIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.
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Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.