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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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3 E9 j: K% M' U! q+ jI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.+ X: @5 ?+ t6 g! _
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His name was Kyle.
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6 W. M# c" M4 {) L$ iIt looked like he was carrying all of his- Q! F2 s* w5 V8 T8 r5 a
Books.! {' W! g" L; u9 c* Z' F
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?: A% z6 B( z0 O8 d" `+ @7 _( ^6 F
; s" @. n( P0 ?& F& A0 S$ j8 zHe must really be a nerd."+ h3 L5 h, v) I8 V7 J9 d
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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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; H) E/ y- r. t) Y2 Z- Z3 z% sAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.* T2 W0 @0 d6 ~( M9 s" B$ z
9 z9 Y3 \8 k7 c- u2 J4 pThey 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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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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7 M" G ]0 L- h8 H% v0 UAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
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They really should get lives.; E- t% v6 S c0 H. ~
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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2 m5 ^/ P3 \% O, b- wThere was a big smile on his face.$ |2 V- c0 L7 L, b6 ~8 @- F
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It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.+ Y& y9 z+ f7 a1 L; x5 `" t8 [- h" _( e
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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}) J7 U/ @: Y7 C3 Z$ x6 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.; M" H- q4 v7 q+ N- @3 m H
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We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.( i. e0 @& ~+ D2 s3 b7 |
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He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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8 C( u) b+ e ], [( v/ a$ lI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.) |9 t. F9 B3 W) d3 O
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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.9 ]" L6 r1 C1 F& l7 k! t" O
, t' y9 I6 o( p& e* O9 F. v* Y, WMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.; m4 G# M5 }/ {2 T
" U Y$ v2 _% W; B* n- n2 m& ?# UI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" q! B- g: V, n ~2 o0 K9 u
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" He just laughed and handed me half the books.$ w' U2 z {) _- e2 q! t
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.% u w4 \5 g; i4 J, N
4 m/ `2 y0 ~1 ?7 o, G. BWhen we were seniors, we began to think
* _+ b5 N L {! B+ e3 r. T/ zAbout college.: e; F9 }) |5 {- P+ Y. r
+ T' |" D' w. Q# g) [Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
x z3 Y6 V% {) g, j7 s0 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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$ v; ]- _1 j) W8 a; U$ yKyle was valedictorian of our class.6 {1 x/ l) ~' F& H7 P2 h0 Z
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.; M# f# q% H5 `: G7 N5 m
( }; R$ v; P# Z9 LI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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* N1 {) A1 R& w PGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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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.* b; d+ A; d t- k4 J3 H3 u* q
8 R; V" y$ G& ]; ~He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous./ K( k9 R2 }/ F& q( R# C
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Today was one of those days." x8 E+ @3 r0 f
! k" Q; T, m9 O2 }- WI could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"; U# H9 Y \( j0 Z2 F7 n1 y# z
6 A3 t" S/ Q5 M, uHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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"Thanks," he said.7 V8 T8 A% [; u9 t! f7 I2 X& T3 O
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began/ o" ?* }$ d5 ]( x1 w9 c, G
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years., {) E2 k& A* b0 v1 N# m& F
: D7 g7 |( X4 uYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...1 N7 J: S+ S+ p7 b$ c/ ]
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I am here to tell all of you that being a" ?7 A/ a- O- \% y3 Z" m
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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6 E, N; d4 c0 k+ \9 {; z% w; kI am going to tell you a story."1 L* o/ ^* d& }
9 J2 p' ~1 d( \ Z& y, LI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.! p4 u$ x" I: x6 z
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.2 |4 N* f6 h/ z( t
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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.
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" l4 p0 _1 r+ IHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. `+ _' j) H+ n) ^
2 F5 ^9 b, A- _2 z"Thankfully, I was saved." O& A8 Y- S+ L9 l/ P* I! t
9 I1 d$ ~% ^+ X8 RMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."! O. ]* F/ ~1 m6 H. @2 a9 ~
% y- i1 X, L0 e P' G/ J VI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.9 d/ K' r2 [, @: u
# N7 a. T9 u8 h/ z/ K/ K# X! VI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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$ K0 C# m0 Q4 a2 f2 aNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.! H2 l# Z7 H x& V$ Z7 @5 T$ b
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.5 O; }; D6 P. U& E; C0 H( c
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For better or for worse.
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7 }! I# n1 V& h& e0 v( `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.1 [! E; ~% S3 n1 R% P7 _
1 I# J+ x- X: y( W0 t8 N8 N xYou now have two choices, you can:
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0 E: _6 i4 U# Q S3 c8 O; \1) Pass this on to your friends or
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* @! m. T6 o. f7 O) Q2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.# @* R G' T+ b7 i. o; r
4 y, j' N. A! e% _0 O4 ^As you can see, I took choice number 1.! W" z2 |2 W' [7 }6 T$ x# T1 P2 o
"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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. Y0 Z, G6 A7 c( h5 J) JTomorrow is mystery.- a$ j* {8 c- ~9 N
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Today is a gift.
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9 n& J* Z6 y1 f& D RIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.& ?/ A' a7 Y5 l! H4 X; G' E4 V% }: z
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If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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