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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,' ]% t* z& o% e9 R6 E1 U! R! N
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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His name was Kyle.+ d8 c/ o. S p, h' G
7 ]0 R% ]7 V* M* A, v, u/ SIt looked like he was carrying all of his! v* L( j# M* m" [3 V
Books.* E4 b; B- |0 c$ t+ ~( ^1 x) M7 q
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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/ ]3 P* t/ h' I* g1 `& c6 ?He must really be a nerd."5 E% K/ }! s( {1 W1 ^
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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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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.8 L7 t* p! Q3 L8 N
' \7 n: h3 h5 {: V, C. O# LThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.7 _ m, s- V$ u2 }+ @
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His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.2 N% E: s5 `) M! \, s. W) I
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He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes1 A" Z( r! |) U$ Y5 v0 d
+ z) z& O. t9 [" b$ C, R0 _* nMy 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.
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They really should get lives.
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& ?: I# S: f* i% N/ N* S" k" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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! T# n; o% {( _7 J0 q# ~! @2 H/ WThere was a big smile on his face.! b& ^$ `* P& N$ }" ~
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It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.9 w3 K- {) H D; M" O+ ~; x4 h4 z8 h
7 ^% ~! v) l* ^I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.0 q" v$ [( R/ h5 U* ^& x8 _
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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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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.
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% w- Z( m8 O) { |We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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3 k3 B# B8 m: A' P. M6 THe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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8 s$ F: ~* n1 z f$ V" a6 T: G: OI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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* ^; [& N( I* ?/ VHe said yes.
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' y$ D8 m3 \2 d) n; o. QWe 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.& }( f; ~$ x3 e9 u; L
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Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.& X; R1 V6 M8 @
, v, w6 t4 K" _/ wI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
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9 W r3 i3 c% \# }9 b5 v5 B ^" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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# u! H5 v! Z+ s/ U. m1 `Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.2 \" G/ N7 N, h, Q0 \$ v! P; q( K0 H
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When we were seniors, we began to think
3 L7 x8 L7 i! e" T% {! rAbout college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
# @1 @0 ~6 x/ B& L, DWas going to Duke.$ Y# i7 s. E/ O! q; L: }5 ~
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.* b! i9 Z4 C! ?+ Z4 @8 c7 @
: [- U7 ]5 i- {1 k4 C, y+ m3 ]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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^8 o2 j+ l6 H" @: g4 TI teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.% X* ~; d/ ?: b: n; r+ |
7 w" a) W6 [! Q- w( z; pI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak* u& ?6 u' i. g4 H
6 l6 _" Y6 f0 u7 p9 LGraduation day, I saw Kyle.! r& V# J+ |7 |4 d
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He looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.+ [/ l) I, A7 |6 `- `
$ M+ D* h& z; ^! X" j/ D3 iHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.+ R/ A& u5 j4 V7 u' t7 Z! {
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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8 e; n: T% r& z* z8 \/ T0 d# pBoy, sometimes I was jealous.
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Today was one of those days.
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; h: ^3 C! L, 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!"5 J& _: c Y" M, E9 c. z+ v# @# w
/ _8 Q4 y( ?( I8 C9 O, l: lHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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"Thanks," he said.9 h; ^6 T5 f0 I* O. ~
7 t* V6 ^) e) o4 w2 kAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began4 f1 C2 `$ Q( z. P! n
$ j5 [% _2 J! y' \6 W: Q"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years., r* W5 r5 q; @# ^
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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 a% u; P& C( n: ^( r4 j$ R; u/ Q2 f* t
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.7 ^( O8 c& L3 N+ i# H# Z5 w6 v
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I am going to tell you a story."1 `) O( M( J5 }9 C! M# o$ Y
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met./ x5 m& E( z1 w7 O% \) D+ U& p# |
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.3 L8 Z& C$ Q, T, m, l J
7 U5 A6 P( X, O8 D1 Q, Z" DHe 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.5 u! H# c. E8 Y7 A
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.6 h. U" b- z5 L0 A
) ~. Y/ b: s, R, ~3 b! J+ F0 b8 x" e) q"Thankfully, I was saved.
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2 K7 @( \0 J2 i( Q5 q6 ]- h, RMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."4 M- R7 }" {2 [! p
, t/ j3 J* {5 x s, A! z9 OI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment., g- P" u. |% B! m6 F* \ t
, g, ?; l0 R4 P% @- z6 yI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.4 |* R& o# m$ l: O& I7 v
$ k- [1 \, F8 v/ \; Z6 L2 }Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.# t: X( p* _9 F0 O
2 M9 \) m5 i' MWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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4 [. d5 P8 B9 b' k, E$ X+ S6 SFor better or for worse.0 T) l5 f8 C7 U/ r" G* u/ X
2 |5 b4 ]' ~0 T# @) B7 c6 ?; sGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.% |' s, }" Y5 }
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Look for God in others.8 _% j( ^& E. U$ H7 r5 J5 O
2 j( p5 K- F0 `7 O, H) GYou now have two choices, you can:/ C6 ]4 K+ ?& F0 y4 H7 E
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1) Pass this on to your friends or" }% v! l1 Q g
. F; T5 N# N& Q m* J5 Z. F/ Z2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.2 ^& S) E/ i* d3 O+ c& V X4 R
5 Q6 ^3 @7 h) e1 p& OAs you can see, I took choice number 1.
% a1 ?8 {; p ^8 C1 b. J"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."6 p1 r' E0 f1 v8 [
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There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.. a4 J* w* k' m# a6 j: H: ]
3 Q; {3 b, R( HTomorrow is mystery.) [# A8 T% N$ S$ q$ T6 a: {! q3 ]
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Today is a gift.+ ~5 V+ H, g7 v+ h! W) l9 J
: h( v8 @, I( X Z0 U7 i3 Q4 h7 O" c* NIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.% H/ L p; z) t5 P
8 @9 @( f% ~: lIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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