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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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0 \; `" ?6 ^; M3 }I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school." g7 a+ i+ e/ D9 V
/ g: f. @" X$ h6 H( Y8 M! THis name was Kyle.) u7 k9 \ p/ ]0 D
- l* m& P/ i( t! K7 ?' NIt looked like he was carrying all of his- v( }2 `4 K5 \
Books.$ M8 i' ]$ c& e u1 ~
, D4 d4 Q9 e$ p8 WI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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He must really be a nerd."7 _4 U, T5 A/ D: O/ W# _
& {% J0 F4 Y9 R* u7 @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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- N) `5 P: R3 \( j3 S2 ^2 ]) B$ cAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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- d. k2 q7 z' [! e5 z' fThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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3 ^2 h: j2 w1 k' J+ J% x3 i$ ^4 }He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes4 y9 s" T4 E, E9 \1 I* k
+ L1 K& [, i% I7 ]$ tMy 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.+ n* K7 \! R9 x' M j
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
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9 X& a2 y( l8 FThey really should get lives., ?& b8 y+ i3 T1 h) T! ?1 |$ i
; T0 n, U9 N- R- g" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.
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: K) q. h$ V& a4 @- C0 CIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.2 T1 Q( d# w" _( X/ `! w1 N
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As 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.
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4 K8 Z% ], d% h, J) ?! E) bI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.2 e8 J" _( Z4 R+ z" ]& i
- O( u: r" [3 P4 V# [% O: M5 U v3 fWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.( a. W7 v2 q1 i/ [# |( s0 W. f
4 b, @" M; l: ?8 ^' R' o! f/ _, ~He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.4 N5 i$ m# b% I( a
/ F: m, C0 S2 Q# @9 g8 {# H. x* UI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends./ n, ?$ O6 }5 v. ~; e
?% b- U: X4 V7 R* p7 Q/ F' QHe said yes.
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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.
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$ E: f2 N) C* v* y4 Z& h; _Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.3 e1 P5 k' F/ b ~7 c% f. b
3 @/ U2 q; `9 L) ~/ x+ B6 N3 tI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
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( O r9 q! H( y9 Z) {3 t- S2 j" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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& D5 _* F+ W1 P. UOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.. O/ Q. A) o g$ }4 W
; a1 [! Q/ M, NWhen we were seniors, we began to think
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& Y: P( l0 t- ?. ~! y& r0 ~Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
4 }$ T7 J, Q6 S! ]% N- [9 Z6 zWas going to Duke.% p0 w8 c/ \4 f2 k2 u
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.$ _0 U& w" Z+ f3 j/ g
1 v& s7 w( m; l2 a& k: eHe was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.* }4 m! c2 u% u( h# W
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Kyle was valedictorian of our class.! A. [5 V, v4 N0 r* O( }% G
* A9 T, R1 q1 n8 Z' JI teased him all the time about being a nerd.: U% c( B3 }7 W' V7 `) {
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.# N: w# w3 o: L7 O" \
( c7 c. B' H) k$ Z UI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak' D( e1 k" p0 l, K
$ G2 I6 @ O+ x6 [Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.
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: z% A* R( D; c- D' R8 AHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school." c8 g1 w! H3 u& q5 k! X
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He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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; [. u) L6 L( i! w! SHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.9 U2 @" Z2 f% N4 l( E5 s( r
) ?9 Y5 |" l0 q7 d( O( \# _" LBoy, sometimes I was jealous., r' w/ b: {' S6 B* ]3 O- p
' ^3 }$ P, z# y1 U' DToday was one of those days.
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( Q2 c" v: t: HI could see that he was nervous about his speech.8 d* C$ D/ q4 Z7 n7 v5 [" g
& x R! V3 b5 V* I+ J7 N" SSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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' U# L7 t$ u4 ~4 ~5 k) R6 D"Thanks," he said.
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began; P. g, g1 u6 ~1 |' z
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.; r9 J% e" I8 q0 i1 s% t4 a
) z! ^4 u i3 j% sYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...1 E7 U- i. @- j" {# ?7 X% O$ _. Z$ M
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
+ y) V; C1 o7 I- \Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.* N- }6 r* W8 H* {
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I am going to tell you a story."3 c3 i. Y1 Q/ N3 J2 Q( Q
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.# m' T; D0 u s. S& g& }
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.1 o5 L W( W# ~( A9 [0 I
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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.& K! ] j- m2 W! ~
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.6 g5 U1 A7 a/ z
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"Thankfully, I was saved.
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."; m$ } Z1 M% f3 |* a b
4 [: k& O- L6 J# z, rI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.4 u' n1 u0 b. o
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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., J: h0 M) j; P- K# U/ X4 k- X
; y: ^6 T G9 T+ L% O0 VNever underestimate the power of your actions.* E/ ?2 D1 c' q1 `$ D, Q- m' x/ s
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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For better or for worse.8 A' ` B9 `8 ]$ ]. Y
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God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.3 R" P3 Z$ i1 j% ~( d4 z
8 d5 a; X% H3 z+ ^Look for God in others.5 a" p4 W! V: Y( Y! [0 b
/ I) @2 i/ r5 Q' g A% tYou now have two choices, you can:& ~: ]4 Y( p' r" w
! y2 w5 p c/ W# U$ i1) Pass this on to your friends or
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2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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& m! q2 h" ~6 A" LAs you can see, I took choice number 1. `! t. w. i6 i* @; C) X7 t
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."9 k X% A2 V5 f: `- L: w
+ P$ z7 P% S: g9 Y1 ^There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.7 D D2 W9 c2 M1 E
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Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.
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It'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. |
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