 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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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.
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His name was Kyle.
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+ A. c3 ?' M. E& BIt looked like he was carrying all of his/ L& u+ U' B. D8 c
Books.
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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Z/ t+ {/ v3 H7 }, f' W/ }% MHe must really be a nerd.", L9 S, \5 r! r. F: i
6 i6 M) l4 i6 i d& dI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.) e+ w# T# x" o
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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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' S6 ?5 Q& M$ @2 ?! `* dThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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. L% F/ n- d/ ?9 n- }+ _His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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8 u0 ~+ h9 u; [& O9 Q* q! iHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes+ z. Q7 O5 l/ {3 d h8 J
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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.% M8 i' V7 ~3 `
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They really should get lives.4 _4 {5 } a* _5 r% B7 V7 q
3 A; y4 y! n" b5 t( ~2 \9 L. ]" f" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!": o! P. a k6 X! z; k& l9 Z, L
% y1 c8 H) P( T$ j$ k) S9 RThere was a big smile on his face., \) \, v* N5 V
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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.( q8 e; D, T3 X# X0 H1 b) ~6 W" B
. p( ]7 W+ L- i% H! q4 cAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.& R- D" t" C. @1 Y; _! Z& F
* w# ^+ g, h* L7 h- D7 qHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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7 _! a( e+ a' R. n7 Q9 U* sI 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.' F3 a! d& @- ?, T9 O
. K) [! }8 s# wHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.$ B3 Y9 n2 o u$ ^# a& G6 G! G" o
J I$ W9 O9 Z G# n3 tI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.1 w& P3 _& d. V' F! @
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He said yes./ Q8 F/ l; p( Z
$ |- a$ S8 Y2 P. Z4 E! ]$ RWe 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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. o8 q( E) S0 V4 g) h W* @# s* RMonday 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!4 s0 h2 V+ ]/ ]" D) p) M8 }
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" He just laughed and handed me half the books.- k# R5 c+ [. l6 R! t
$ B; ?7 ^4 |/ i4 n) l' W! OOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
0 j* B. _4 b# s6 T) B7 SAbout college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
8 ~" i+ i+ B" T8 x5 PWas going to Duke." ~$ m* Z# d8 s- h. O, X3 A
3 U+ ]. f% ?- C8 P+ H) \I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.: M6 w: ]' |7 Q3 q9 G
- X5 x+ B* i% e+ J" {He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship./ R. X& @* a+ O) I7 ^) q: X
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Kyle was valedictorian of our class.. R) Y2 m' Y( F2 j2 Z7 ~
' S6 M/ _3 L1 X/ V/ \0 hI teased him all the time about being a nerd.5 ]) t& A# c: s8 g0 Z
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.$ z0 a. j8 H4 V$ o8 Y5 _
8 p3 D; O4 j* E% h3 J' G& ZI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. i8 Q: i; I/ ~. T" f# X
7 ?. Q- G, F. V) r lGraduation day, I saw Kyle.# F% |3 @8 E5 N+ |8 k1 V
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He looked great.3 q' g- J: s6 Z
' d# }; g! v4 h% F4 h$ DHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school." p: ~0 F# z' Z3 F7 ?% |1 Z8 y
2 j' t- {4 W. VHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.: Y5 x# ^) U! }* }' i/ \" U# v
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.1 w7 f1 O$ n$ B
5 q+ A$ I2 ^2 _; }: G% pBoy, sometimes I was jealous.
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Today was one of those days.+ ]; T: c6 E* D
* B% r% d: m7 J4 M% U% u4 eI could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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. X5 X! i( _ g! o& lSo, 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.3 Q2 B1 p. _" ?1 s
+ S2 Q9 @: l5 Z9 z; j"Thanks," he said.& H4 S& U& z! b4 [
5 G/ h3 ]% F/ S! M2 lAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began( E2 c c. J. K
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.+ D/ j6 m% t8 o; T7 V$ y
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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" H$ j4 t* D- }( y4 TI am here to tell all of you that being a% C) C% ^/ K# z" k, O8 A1 @+ v
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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I 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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) U; c; u5 }; e/ m0 xHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.4 O9 u4 F/ Q& A% L' e6 h
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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.- u2 u0 O7 o. g
1 b+ V* ? x L4 H$ C* T1 ZHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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"Thankfully, I was saved.$ Y/ Z0 K& e# O/ D1 K6 O
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My 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.3 X, [0 t! W/ F& M6 Q3 p ]
$ l- P6 ~, b5 S5 j/ S. JI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.' e, Z5 r& q$ {$ \, t
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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.' x; A" k& Q1 c# B! m
- J5 D% l+ ~ b, W: E( ^8 ~With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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For better or for worse.
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% \8 U8 C3 O4 aGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.; u, C9 S3 i6 [# c! Q3 Z+ H- K
4 i3 V4 L) [5 r, ?0 |4 |6 |Look for God in others.: N) v. \1 @. w1 S" c2 {8 b
4 l' n p G& H3 }- V: YYou now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or" f2 p, g8 l& S
! t2 b& Q% d- r E( g2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.* L% q& [1 _- f& u
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."4 q% h% u$ X4 ~
4 d8 J: C1 x% i sThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.$ T( V3 `% f) X& B
0 U+ }7 F( }! t- m, s1 LTomorrow is mystery.
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2 q" g V& Q. ]/ f! UToday is a gift.* Q1 D& P: I7 w9 D( D+ B
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It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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7 ?! {0 f7 h _% |7 }- EIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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