You never know

sweetspot

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

I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

His name was Kyle.

3 K! g# o& {* A; qIt looked like he was carrying all of his
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, S  j/ `" g5 ~" c+ W  fI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

* U( r9 V5 J. g$ a, e2 OHe 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.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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They 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.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
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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.
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
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They really should get lives.

! M8 H2 ^/ l$ [1 d0 W  T% u" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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+ U. V' R* U% @2 s! l- g' N. W4 r$ X" 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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- y, }% y& p. u' U9 w8 QI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

4 q6 W" k% d# ]1 l1 y! Z- b; wAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

# G) n% O, l" x$ }$ t! bHe said he had gone to private school before now.

" }  y5 Q) j9 i" ~1 Q$ pI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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3 H; ^4 k9 r9 z6 I5 L4 VWe 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.
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8 k3 P9 d$ r5 F. j+ l, S8 kI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He 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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; o' X9 Z( k( Z5 e" p, m1 iMonday 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!

" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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0 k6 a8 K$ j9 v# R' p8 p3 N- y" \When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
$ [0 H, q7 P) O  |' f' @$ }: ~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.
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Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

, `% p! m7 K+ O( t$ q  pHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

; r/ X! u0 P1 B1 J4 a0 vGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

8 S' F/ u; n' o% A8 UHe looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

7 E0 {) @% e/ yHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

% M$ @0 ?6 l* ?' pHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

5 b4 ]9 T7 y5 u# f, b5 gBoy, sometimes I was jealous.

: u3 g( u+ H6 R) iToday was one of those days.
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3 e1 z' N( U2 }/ d! _# vI could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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. C1 L5 w1 {7 F$ d' s" `$ h3 R2 ^So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"

/ t2 A( S# _* T$ ZHe 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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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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' @& @: m% m4 i$ l* s/ N8 B"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

4 A& ]9 }0 a! E7 [) uYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
- f, r- N0 y, }Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

/ q. z0 v- e5 q9 d7 s* o  TI am going to tell you a story."

: o+ E: R2 W2 \, E: ]2 SI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

! B- s1 b! i3 Y. tHe 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.

1 P  P, O$ `, ?. K- _- I. R. Z+ OHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

( _6 ~# @4 g' W/ H. K8 J+ a# K' FMy 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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9 x  q0 [3 `, x/ ?7 a; ZNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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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.

; j9 ^+ ^8 T# B8 L2 V( WGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:

" [# |* |" c2 e" X1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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7 t/ i0 j3 l; a5 q1 RAs you can see, I took choice number 1.
5 t. w, K8 i0 g  T5 b/ t% o- b"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.

3 B* A* @" K1 c9 WTomorrow is mystery.
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, ?$ H) [) H# d) w6 P3 AToday is a gift.

& q3 b( i; T7 s' {/ p, K- \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.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.