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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7 n" n& N! I& b$ BHis name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
# Q( k$ K9 ~' Z, ?9 rBooks.
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% z* v1 x8 t& C+ D9 OI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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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.
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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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" t4 _% N) U& L8 w0 T8 k5 g, PThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

# D7 p0 z9 i+ I0 a7 c+ THis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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7 H* b! G$ Q/ A) L& Z7 W7 zHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes

- F' a) t/ L+ QMy 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.

  B7 `8 u. `/ h5 s& RAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

They really should get lives.

" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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  l5 b- _# @# a( DThere was a big smile on his face.
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It 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.
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/ P6 U7 E; R" @  zAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

# l" L0 |& g% i5 VHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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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.

" }& g+ ]+ r5 K( T$ r5 x, |( a4 aHe said yes.

3 D0 @' F& v! S& ?* }  QWe 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.

$ C! ]0 m) Y  i5 O' q% F! gMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

% w; R7 Y; K& h0 t' Z( cI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

3 F2 z0 S- X) f' s2 \" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

- S; a4 B3 f- Z9 N% JKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.

. P8 B, M# Y; |3 ?. k* x& uI 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.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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( U/ u2 r; s0 _" A, E8 m- {3 oHe 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

* }8 e# N, t+ G0 \1 ?Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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( O. w  I* \" H0 j: V  k* k4 ~He 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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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
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3 T" n, v: n7 \/ s4 f( E  z! E5 L: {Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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/ }" t7 v! g$ o& ~- M0 bSo, 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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3 K) l/ U! q8 R  m3 p' g"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...
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4 Q4 |" s$ v) u' j) F. P' WI am here to tell all of you that being a
/ i4 N- j) }/ s. cFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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. V" e9 q. B5 f6 s$ S6 F  r* MI am going to tell you a story."
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  G2 J4 ?& B/ |' z, fI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

" M, r. \% h7 d. G6 a* l% ZHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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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.

4 d  k% U5 ~6 Q; JHe 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.

( c  Y6 ^( i( JI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

: D8 Y+ A& d% i: z1 ENot until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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For better or for worse.
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7 {1 d" A' p# m: [6 RGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

  z2 Q1 }4 i, [4 rYou now have two choices, you can:

1) Pass this on to your friends or
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4 i& L2 K- s' e5 R2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.
, W' E/ {8 i/ B6 J5 d0 T"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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; e1 u. l0 c9 C5 Q/ kTomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.
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9 K5 C+ ?2 o9 Z  x0 {& g, GIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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) t6 h  H3 i* X; E! wIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.