You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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His name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

He must really be a nerd."
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I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

1 i/ R2 v0 j" |: W8 j% H5 B. _As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

9 D: j1 ?4 k. i. U7 j8 sThey 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.

0 B; @# a1 b3 bHe 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, and I saw a tear in his eye.

+ i  \: |2 W- i6 w# EAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

They really should get lives.
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2 X1 P& o+ L% ?  ?3 v" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

3 d; p/ F& n! AThere was a big smile on his face.
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9 b8 u# Q& i0 M3 s* m! z5 OIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

  ]4 F4 c6 l" @4 H/ c4 S5 F: WI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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# J: d$ q8 r5 u: B7 T$ ~, P3 ^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.

+ o, G. w" h+ j' l- O- Q- \' E9 Q1 AI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

* U$ P2 n$ r' E6 B' v0 w5 sWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

  a8 ^6 z( }8 pHe said yes.
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. y9 I0 L' t/ X& g) G2 l( y( rWe 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.

7 Q) S- G# [9 n+ XMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

& u# r" S  F* U( c: x) J1 VI 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.

! a1 y0 W+ C  ?Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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2 n8 T+ i$ h/ Q, `' C/ ZWhen we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
3 i' d! B8 _# ~/ AWas going to Duke.
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
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He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
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+ \# _! s8 \9 Z; T5 Y- VKyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

" V4 l) X1 \3 y3 B% _; k/ XI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

$ ]5 B- M0 G/ aGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

He looked great.
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7 k# ?, J. \( T& E( j* i2 y2 s# mHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

7 [3 r  _1 K4 N5 {$ S: mHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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, ]" @' a) d- z/ e5 x+ iBoy, sometimes I was jealous.
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" a; I6 S) G$ vToday was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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7 k2 l2 v" H0 H+ wSo, 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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% H1 V; p% G# l6 D9 Z"Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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! ]+ _) h' S" ?1 C3 R"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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, n) X4 s" J, t4 t4 S- KYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

7 C# ?' x+ Y' V/ v$ t) n/ DI am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

9 F* Z5 T3 h3 u$ A4 m/ Y6 e' A' VI am going to tell you a story."
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2 J4 Z% P4 H/ _" L$ \7 [( c) @2 nI 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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) L7 y8 _* q3 L) T- ~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.

  [9 i+ r) r: i; Q" ]7 J5 L! c2 ~He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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" R9 V& ~/ [! @5 s$ @1 QI 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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+ e+ I, p0 H  y! c$ m2 [1 e1 D; cNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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1 ]2 K4 d0 I& g- X6 `Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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8 n+ g+ X8 e& @9 U& CWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

, l' N0 T6 c0 E7 A8 JFor better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.
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( s5 [" Q' r& j4 c0 MYou now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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' P9 t1 ?+ k% W; P0 ~As you can see, I took choice number 1.
" b- p7 t" c+ y- [7 p1 J% W7 p6 O9 ^"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.

Tomorrow is mystery.
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3 B* g: ~6 Z* ~" y+ y7 OToday is a gift.

It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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9 X7 ^' A; R4 |3 W1 ?' aIf 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.