You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,

I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

! C- V! T7 \! n4 X4 QHis name was Kyle.

1 u0 I/ m! U9 aIt looked like he was carrying all of his
( \7 P! p8 i3 c+ x! iBooks.
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- o9 X, |. q7 R1 g' ~! K% FI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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He must really be a nerd."

9 x5 u1 j7 ?/ e- G$ ]' tI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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( B' p- D& ?  s! EThey 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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5 ~2 D, p3 n, OHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes

4 Q. t% A1 ~$ l/ y( t+ o6 mMy 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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& e- F$ g% s9 R! U& f* l; I+ IAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

They really should get lives.

" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.

: k, T7 j& k$ W5 x* |" cIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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0 f7 Q5 @8 k  nI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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& c, x- O! ~  _  `& Q: lAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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He 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.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.

$ h( Q$ i1 L! U. m4 cHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

8 n! B" L3 ~/ ~+ {- CI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He said yes.

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.
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" z0 X% Y6 _# O: G, @3 SMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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, S# R: Z6 j  H6 C* ^I 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.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

+ J! O6 m7 e- v+ I. J% lKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
- Q& R- }$ G6 z& tWas going to Duke.

8 x4 l7 g7 ~% DI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.

6 j2 S- n) \* e. U6 gHe 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.
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

1 }  _, k. M- M" t  VHe 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

# D' F; d3 I, CGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.
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; j. q: v  W" T: cHe 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.

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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6 r+ o/ j+ Y# i' m0 SBoy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.

4 L% S7 s9 h+ H5 I  e! g: wSo, 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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"Thanks," he said.
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

! E& W9 Z+ p, n9 S0 F+ y8 }0 y# iYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

0 M# m/ D" g2 S* @- E% Q' uI 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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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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' a+ W  K6 r  C4 \' G& V6 G/ `) [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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+ v) R2 b: n- P6 z  f+ \He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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"Thankfully, I was saved.
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

7 D# j) x4 J# O; ^$ @/ l- |( hI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

) e8 e# x& S: r& E' T, mI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

5 u9 o3 s5 N: J3 v* ~3 CWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

$ z# I! `1 t2 e: }' F0 fGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.
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You now have two choices, you can:
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2 e- _' f0 {! L1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) 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."
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; O% n/ i+ b& b  H5 ~; t3 E# a8 H: v- [There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

: ^: Z  p' j* h; _9 L$ v1 [6 qTomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.

$ n4 a! ]  i+ k# l# X+ F2 I  {It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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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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Today is a gift.