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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. a% |1 S# D+ Q0 L$ H' [
! u. H! y: K4 }* @# \8 R! QHis name was Kyle.; M2 [& s& C8 t1 M# v
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It looked like he was carrying all of his% _4 G: S/ k" \2 M3 T+ _8 J7 P3 h
Books.6 C" @5 S3 e: V: @$ S0 z9 T
; B# ]0 y- X9 y# D3 S6 H9 yI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?$ j3 O3 a; p1 X- L5 j8 K1 Q0 Z; l
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He must really be a nerd."4 p! H! U" \2 k _
: c8 V; t5 V/ R' ?" S- t: L& jI 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.3 w$ d5 u8 m) X+ `8 n& b
# }( H( f+ u. ^$ k# VThey 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 _/ d- X) c8 P+ N1 LHe 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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. N& j7 Y( C2 E" j/ G! S( hAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.1 | a/ V) W# i5 |5 H6 d6 f7 @8 k
3 m' v, m! ]( W. r% L$ @They really should get lives.
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* f2 a1 x8 {7 }9 I, e9 W" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.
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9 N2 g$ ~9 F" k6 ~6 vIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.: {/ \9 V: n6 I9 ~! t) \2 K+ R
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived./ o' l) ]) B! g
* S3 i8 m4 X3 q* C9 n5 C9 JAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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( |5 K5 i+ u4 N4 Q; HHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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$ Y! H i6 K$ l* MI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.0 F6 v" T- m' O# y! K$ D* U* ~
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We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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- X& w2 ^/ _5 J; T* N) DHe 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.2 x# d' f, o& c
7 y, B$ d; p: j: R, F6 xHe said yes.6 d2 K4 }/ w ~4 w: ^
1 X1 i4 g3 H8 V! T) 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.
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Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.: r5 d& W: u% D- O" p( G
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I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!8 Z/ S4 x+ p0 k
% r1 }7 z/ I* j" p: s" @; W* n1 y" He just laughed and handed me half the books." ~9 s7 k1 B+ X1 x3 F
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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4 u, X% Z" M4 A; p! }: J/ P( eWhen we were seniors, we began to think
! Y6 V$ p: `0 X1 z& x7 ?About college.
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5 i2 u% h; {9 _( IKyle decided on Georgetown, and I1 r3 l2 X& T# |- f" ~
Was going to Duke.
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# e" Z. f. _* v! FI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.# p! i: \/ p3 h+ q6 X
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He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.2 {( E: W/ O- U" d8 R5 c8 `5 e
, M, ?3 e4 c2 Q3 n( rKyle was valedictorian of our class.3 T, Z6 d2 M/ X% n, Z9 l
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd./ c7 n$ G0 O. X% p
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He 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
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) \; m( Z: l0 @# o9 V* p4 k, W4 ?Graduation day, I saw Kyle.: x/ y# V3 d7 t9 W' [; }
* a! l$ W7 `9 @+ `( k, w3 D7 MHe looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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/ q0 y. N8 R% D' Q) {1 V' qHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.$ l3 v& X9 r" z' @( B
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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4 o" {! J' N! ` d* NBoy, sometimes I was jealous.# J! d( s* a! ~; h/ j1 U
( s, R3 g+ ]5 ^% o! v7 }1 i: XToday was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.5 B, i& `+ H' K! v& S2 D
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So, 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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' O9 x" G0 ]$ h. v% N) z4 {: D3 l5 B"Thanks," he said.; v+ A+ F8 x/ d
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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6 S5 ?6 R* }$ U( P/ q$ z+ e( s. p) r"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.4 H H# z1 o+ S0 d" t. N
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...$ K$ _0 Z/ @2 T" Q. t* X' `# \
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
1 K2 u% _+ o% B- @2 o4 a% \% XFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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# |. z8 \, s1 R2 f, cI am going to tell you a story." c q" L8 Y2 Z: Y
/ Z0 K, W8 f) h' aI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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, P. e) M7 q, V# |' Q, xHe 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.8 L: @5 K+ c# X1 ~! K5 F
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.7 s5 t+ w" y/ j' U
% c, J8 P3 ?$ j# u1 e! e0 W$ e"Thankfully, I was saved.3 {! s' v7 m5 p! m1 w, f& [; Z
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."- U7 E: e7 Q+ i8 W- s- p
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I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.7 g% A3 i) b- g1 ~$ H, N
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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.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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For better or for worse.
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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.! @, z/ w- _7 E$ `9 N1 ~0 J/ Z, [
7 O& s# Y' [% z R2 h: GYou now have two choices, you can:4 N; q8 g2 @9 a: y% p% A1 s3 b
- c, c! q. E; c0 p, ? _0 E1) Pass this on to your friends or
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5 m1 v# p4 M7 Z+ t: Z% l2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.8 q4 o1 i7 M }
"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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2 f* X# _& j* j: ]: zTomorrow is mystery.
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4 P( r0 N4 F8 q$ R$ tToday 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.6 o$ l ^/ x4 i1 d
, i5 [9 x) s- l$ I, s/ C- _+ T) ^If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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