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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,9 I1 a' L8 i7 V" [! Z' m- s8 Z
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.. t* A5 c8 V: j% \+ S0 B, R
+ X% K3 W H8 L" v: G, zHis name was Kyle.6 |# O' |6 `( n" D, B9 H* D q
& v% z3 r9 J4 q: V$ _It looked like he was carrying all of his) i4 @0 Y# d" \8 e
Books.
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: m) ~) Q$ K' p/ nI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?' g3 m# h% D- v5 m2 D2 s4 X% |
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He must really be a nerd."( H, g4 A! n+ L* U3 q; }: P! X
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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.( w" B* I; \1 _9 S; a, n- E6 W: z
0 t* y8 ]% k2 U* Z7 v1 P! wAs 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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$ [; i% B c5 h7 P8 xHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.* r4 z: r+ Y6 @( a: n, n& n& E
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He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes+ x8 e- T& @$ v- F) @; v$ T
5 q0 [1 \; c8 R4 ~6 z5 z" `9 ?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.2 R" D0 E; a1 t
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks., i& \7 ]& P, N$ e
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They really should get lives.
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* ^' q- u3 K" N/ Y0 p# |" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"1 I- G e# V1 `- l! b! j' r
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There 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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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.7 w, N* ~3 t$ F6 ]$ |. N. c
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.- k. z7 Z" U& B* Z r' s: r
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He said he had gone to private school before now.1 C9 Q' H6 ]$ _! z! C( B) ]
& t7 F1 n; I5 z. G- ]4 q3 i/ {I 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.3 I8 N! H' T: |. H f( A0 @
* l" P1 h1 k+ R% A/ d* |: s& WHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.: r- D6 S& H: x5 ~/ \2 x- T$ a6 H
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I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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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.2 \8 T" r- J( u1 s' H1 e
% K0 m/ h" k9 e F( Y( v; oMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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) s) N, x" I- Z. M& MI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
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" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.- i2 V) W2 p! W/ I( J( {
+ q! G$ ]9 s- U8 N8 b4 A4 I! |When we were seniors, we began to think2 m; ^. }2 ?: T$ x$ R
About college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
) L8 }& P' T7 ~5 ^Was going to Duke.
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s6 a( H; ? ~0 c4 L6 PI 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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6 g8 U$ n9 P6 [9 A0 TKyle was valedictorian of our class.
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5 D& `3 v$ v# f; a2 r" x2 R# W- ~I teased him all the time about being a nerd.9 f/ d: W) T9 ^8 C" E6 u! R3 U' w
" o3 R1 ^* j( o$ \) N4 L* o5 IHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.& E# O- Y. N/ { E0 q5 @! t
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I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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Graduation day, I saw Kyle.$ d; O0 w0 N) M& ]
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He looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.3 ]# E: v9 B% u4 n, W3 I- I
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He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.& X4 F5 j& {0 F6 F
X! E! t* n5 S% z; T- l" O% pHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous./ C y- Y0 \9 Y
8 J/ o7 r7 d3 L/ k! {Today was one of those days.
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8 l$ ~4 |$ l3 u6 V' ^* ZI 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!"* q# ?4 H4 L7 g( p; J2 b2 N
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He 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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: L2 G1 N0 F- `As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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$ j" j" `" h& V1 S: L"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.) l7 u5 g b3 l& }
& Z1 ^: B5 N* _+ T# f, R b3 w! eYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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" |+ U9 q% k/ A' Q9 r( T QI am here to tell all of you that being a
9 n# O; a; q9 QFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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I am going to tell you a story."# ^ ~( p) v* k3 e! J8 U
- l7 f. b. T' f7 Y) R- WI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.% Z+ a" [! Z, G
; P. V; U) k, q2 q/ ?' p' r+ n2 WHe 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.
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1 s4 E4 y/ X" dHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.4 R' @6 v9 r/ j% y: Z8 D/ H
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"Thankfully, I was saved.7 ~5 s/ d Q z+ q& n. ^
2 \- R k3 d( O3 U0 J( GMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."7 a+ b7 E3 z5 K
/ l6 l% F: C/ \& oI 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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8 u9 N1 p. v8 LNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.5 l! Y$ [" l. l* T" ^
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.3 `; K' Z) ^- c! V% N/ j8 c
; C- i2 R1 I. H$ `With one small gesture you can change a person's life.9 e6 W A! l$ N% _( p R* e8 h
" C% w3 `' a2 i, _$ \For better or for worse.
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$ n2 m" |% s% P* p$ A" o9 cGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.' s) d* e ]1 `4 [) v! j1 V W @
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Look for God in others.- R. s; Y F Y# Z( {0 c* `4 c# k
" L! o( _$ Z7 f* n% ]" k% eYou now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or
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5 m7 m9 P; j! U# L& |( I' S2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.
) f9 c# n+ S3 | |1 `"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."
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* P8 o4 f/ w5 |1 WThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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; S( [9 W' c4 \/ M6 a* O5 j( c* uTomorrow is mystery.% _. x8 v. U" G: G
9 Y" W0 c4 k. u5 O( W& G, zToday is a gift.3 |. M: {7 o. K: I# _# v$ \
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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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- ]/ S# f) p" X, [ w" lIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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