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.

2 s9 ]" a* p; J+ Q/ \  @0 `; KIt looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.

* W& \  q% Q! L5 ?4 CI 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.
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, v0 s. N: s' ]0 {! P+ IAs 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.
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: i5 L& J5 `# i: `' A) J( ]* _0 xHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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; h, c9 l+ [* k& N; |" z4 p5 CHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes

: @! U% v( M. n  O3 B7 `( r2 RMy 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.

# d- b% F+ \0 N9 K0 oAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

4 X2 `/ c+ P9 _+ L: \9 e0 l& j0 SThey really should get lives.
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

0 B) \: E: n2 L7 q0 X2 f& r/ nThere was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

/ N0 S9 d# z; V3 G' A0 YI 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.
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1 [  m, J5 o1 {- [- ~- M8 {, HI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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  s( y; f) g; t& G) h* YWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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& z* J, U1 S% C/ _He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

! w# l9 C% c- QI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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He said yes.
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3 A. Z& l" d3 N, Y' ~5 GWe 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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, m/ M) h6 ?# H6 k$ n% X1 G. |Monday 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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When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
  r. V, x0 j: v( m5 uWas 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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) X( Q& i/ t- A& w" DHe 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.

5 D- B, s" ?. y4 ?- LI teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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6 w; X3 o- `7 G- L; ?% [# XI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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Graduation day, I saw Kyle.

He looked great.

. n* l! h2 F" h% @( T% PHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

$ h8 q/ P- V7 ^' Y' _6 j$ GHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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  X% g7 |! X2 h/ w. e) ^( f6 CHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

- J: o1 A: v& O( L9 S% G( d7 ]- x4 LToday was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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) J& k1 u. M4 K# HSo, 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.

"Thanks," he said.
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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.

2 Q( H- \9 Q' p' f, vYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

2 `% T  r0 P/ L- }I am here to tell all of you that being a
. h5 ~- D. V& p7 {& c7 HFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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0 a- k2 d) y" ^' C6 V. Z1 JI am going to tell you a story."
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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# |4 T2 o! u% Y; F+ }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.

( o2 i; H, M& M) CHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

$ r1 l* W' B( \$ i"Thankfully, I was saved.
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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.
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! Z8 G# v' v) C, t* y; nI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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5 ~5 ^7 p( O9 jNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.

+ p) [! b8 o5 K& M( dNever 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.
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You now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or

* `6 y; j/ P/ w: T& I* I! j2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

. {  H, u- K. Z. g6 l$ AThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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. u/ V4 c9 g4 [5 _5 i. z; E; OTomorrow is mystery.
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) C$ ?) {* I; Y! c1 w$ G  r- [Today is a gift.
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8 L8 p* G; Q" A( \6 E0 F" I) u$ I1 GIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

If 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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6 }8 R( ?5 s+ U" zToday is a gift.