 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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; B8 L1 c3 ]2 LI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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* p5 G$ |& m6 J& a8 F2 I; A zHis name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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5 _$ z. d: g- r" [He must really be a nerd."
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* P; J& L+ d6 W) p; zI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.. h7 }9 \8 W1 Q
5 H9 ^' }* b: s/ M- SAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.9 Z+ h+ \+ {4 Z7 c# P$ a1 |8 m
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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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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 eyes3 [0 |( P6 P0 A' Q) B! I$ x4 k2 [- 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., z' O/ {) E4 M* o2 ^: |4 I
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.4 O' u4 P" }8 U5 a" o: z6 c& K. \
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They really should get lives.
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# p6 r; M7 t. o; W6 {! Z. w2 L0 T2 s" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.! r9 Y5 M+ y8 a: v8 n
; a4 _1 [# ]# P/ t0 E: zIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.; o# k$ x% M$ K/ \
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived." [# `- M; u4 y
9 M7 B8 `" z! T3 n; m& R2 HAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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5 n# N6 R: w# U4 c% KHe said he had gone to private school before now.0 r6 a' w; |( f$ f
8 ?4 e# V8 l9 C0 II 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.
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He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.3 \2 L* Q$ K' M" z! m- h6 e
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He said yes.2 {' _. L, @" Y- n/ c1 K0 z/ l
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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.) ?" P* b9 l% j
: m2 D# e! I/ { l0 hMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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7 T- l1 d9 Q& o! Z* q: yI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!; h( G, `: w' Z" F1 ~
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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.
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* e( j" `* _0 a5 U1 H* `8 S0 o$ IWhen we were seniors, we began to think2 f" x- N2 M; e! s- J% o
About college.1 Q- D! N" F) R/ Z6 h- C
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I1 P% r% s/ Y* V2 i9 Q6 f
Was going to Duke.7 t. R/ h$ O; o# b4 w; Q* T' Y
) j, \! `4 q. bI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem./ c/ G, b" v5 V+ _
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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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Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd.1 s3 d# K3 g6 \9 r; g0 L r4 G v
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.: i, f' v) f9 K1 v
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I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak3 x% a0 ~1 Z3 ` X) n" K
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Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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# N' R9 X# U* YHe looked great.
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' ^2 \) D% y* D: m7 \+ KHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.! Q) F5 k7 N; C& c! D% z
" G9 H* u g( L% C; F* t1 EHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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. J& r/ N/ e* ]% w! I. C3 NHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.2 U0 O, c+ K6 Z% n
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.2 x, v7 A: V' g3 c# k7 B" P
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Today was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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: b" _) F6 P& \. ySo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"& C* E8 B# F) S
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He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.5 h8 u( h; g) z( Y' A
0 }9 p/ m( \& T! |. s2 {"Thanks," he said.
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4 h# a) c4 u% U* a, ?+ v0 iAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began, F: P8 g+ t+ C% a: t, ^* Y5 i6 J
* Y4 O p' K' I3 z3 d"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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Your 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 a5 |3 E6 q5 x6 P- w
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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( P2 |' X$ f' k q% p! Q6 uI am going to tell you a story."
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' _ x! S+ ?2 |* U- M* X |I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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: j3 h- j9 K& z2 J2 X9 iHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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8 c7 }7 T q( s3 ]5 B& d3 lHe 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.7 b: E( I; T+ r. k, r
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. w q y3 X: F
& D( B; b* W: H" z' [+ T4 n"Thankfully, I was saved.+ t7 f U( A% k" t
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.": t- @0 s/ O% w4 I7 c# M
' s( Y, s1 S0 m) M- `: YI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.6 A3 ^+ J7 O. r
+ \* O2 C6 \4 J3 Z+ u3 c0 {I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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2 S6 W+ V/ ^' F: t- A+ pNot until that moment did I realize it's depth." u5 @( n2 c- G- p
: O- O1 B2 t1 ~+ O6 L$ DNever underestimate the power of your actions.
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.7 h8 e+ H: {8 [6 b' C* w$ A! P2 g
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For better or for worse.( d" R, E4 e, F' \& Q' l
/ H0 C/ t! ^0 U6 rGod 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:6 f; O* K, J: O Z
: J7 b% G1 k( X9 O$ E, [& t" e1) Pass this on to your friends or9 l5 |; Z, R( A3 r
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2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.: S2 S( c( n1 D: N- @ G( @0 Y
3 R: Y+ p3 G, h& ^7 g% X# ]As you can see, I took choice number 1.
P* l' d& w. P"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."
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; m# T+ M: F; F# oThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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* Y% r0 m# U& PTomorrow is mystery.
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! o) t) z: }( l/ Y# l2 N+ o4 U8 hToday is a gift.
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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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# E f$ Q% T1 a; mIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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