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| When I was a freshman
in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from
school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all
of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home
all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite
a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends
tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch
of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his
books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about
ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness
in his eyes.
My heart went out to him. So, I
jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his
glasses, I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses,
I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."
He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile
on his face. It 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. He said he had gone to private school
before now.
I would have never hung out with
a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and
I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool
kid. 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. I stopped him and
said, "Boy, you are going to really build some serious muscles
with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed
me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle
and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to
think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going
to Duke. 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.
I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare
a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to
get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked
great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during
high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy,
sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I
could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, 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. "Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared
his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those
who helped you make it through those tough years; your parents,
your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach ...but mostly, your
friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to
someone is the best gift you can give them. I 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. He had
planned to kill himself over the weekend. 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. He looked hard at me
and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My 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 its
depth.
Never underestimate the power of
your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's
life, for better or for worse.
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