 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
One day, when I was a freshman in high school,% q; i; s0 Z5 A0 Z
7 L& D3 F3 |, d- g- Y5 e
I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.) B$ t# e5 X% m' l9 ?6 `8 {
- h0 a( _- }* T$ zHis name was Kyle.
6 X8 K$ U3 m( Q' V6 y6 M* m+ f$ P
/ U8 o, D+ O+ s x. JIt looked like he was carrying all of his1 ^' D! g: o, V% e' B
Books.$ g+ G$ ~) e- k x- k! e' g
4 l. p& @( v" `2 {
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
2 t9 ^/ W/ G7 @) _" h9 Z) |7 b1 u1 S/ z
He must really be a nerd."5 Q# j6 F6 g7 S% s; ~
4 y u( z" K' V+ u. L! z' D/ t- @$ k
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.1 g, u% p. m+ b) C6 n; Y- ]/ v
/ q- N4 a, r' [
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
5 E& D! |$ K1 L/ H# }; X! [# S B% j4 S- t9 }
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
; {) r1 J, Y; Y. U4 ~* A8 J3 m" [1 P" ~' T7 e; E# B0 X4 i
His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.$ T+ L- k* e. m+ K6 K% b
- f7 u1 t8 G0 K7 o
He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
6 l: s" K% y* B. C& e$ ^% h3 u+ e" t0 ]- Y1 ^, d7 Z2 _
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 `% ]% ^ @; ^* y
- V: M: b2 Q8 CAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.) j2 M& t7 G1 y
2 m3 ^# J" \- j; \8 Z+ U% J8 z
They really should get lives.
! N! K8 W' T5 D. h Y6 _ F( \7 G5 D3 ^5 S* X5 |# _2 G
" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"% D# K3 D% c* N4 ~- \4 H, [: B
% S" B$ `. |6 D r& h3 mThere was a big smile on his face.1 }; u& i! w% U, N8 ~" w2 z
n3 `9 ^! t# e0 b+ k. kIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.& b" P& }; b* U/ U
2 V' ^7 m' F$ z% |% z/ |! R
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
V, V: I( o2 _2 u1 X$ G
- p6 s- h2 B3 A- d' X# T: ~As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before., V( E$ f' K+ g. u7 _5 F; O6 V
7 r4 ]* x: G( g+ \" J. |
He said he had gone to private school before now.
' U0 p$ T) I- R3 Y5 j: J) |; ], v! R, k# J ]7 E5 d
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.$ k* t% J8 p) O, Q$ m; x
! A/ \7 V/ P, M, W6 Q) s* TWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.; c# B2 j: w8 Q. t" }. b- z$ w: S
8 ~- D: m9 {& c& X; X+ MHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
2 I- V' W; k3 K8 W2 `' Y+ w) s
6 ]# n. N: E, V* Q* {I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.# b. @4 q" _. S' o2 J# F R! e
0 [, P1 {8 B2 E9 S
He said yes., u# D) z3 p3 t" ~
% {3 t" w3 u' N! |5 D! ~, `. XWe 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.
+ v9 m1 H) j# X8 s( G# B0 v6 h4 J. h# W5 ]! v# q( b+ o. k5 m
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
$ X/ V& o- g: e8 a; L$ Y! J: [
) R" K# P7 q7 p4 `! N, TI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!4 a' E$ ]" P0 _- V4 R
2 ]7 T2 e% y6 K" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
: W" V& \: Z; f3 F4 D8 j! z
/ V4 `+ x( R$ U mOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.4 Z# x4 g" J) w4 k4 P
0 t+ s- Y* j( @& F- }% nWhen we were seniors, we began to think: S; s" C8 I$ c& N% d: B
About college.
# p3 u% X! @" w, r. `5 O2 ]0 m2 ~
/ l8 S2 t9 b- u) _2 C' p: y+ rKyle decided on Georgetown, and I, w, U8 n$ A+ n1 `( |
Was going to Duke.
6 g/ C9 J/ b: g' W9 c W& z: r J; S+ I4 t2 R
I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
% D- S6 x9 v, X0 N& B6 B% n- a& m4 v" L. y1 g; P
He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
, V: T: Z2 W1 R3 ^& |# ^
: z9 c! {1 A5 a( RKyle was valedictorian of our class.! T, O2 w* _8 z( D" d3 i
# z% e1 C7 |" _* r% b8 y
I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
* ^/ W, Z) T" k
2 b. B6 p, H* D+ f' [* ^( {He had to prepare a speech for graduation.) w. j/ y8 f9 K! ?
A7 E% ^" B8 d9 ^, _% |7 r
I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
1 Z) j1 X% x) v4 ]( n6 |
0 t a% H7 q; Y( d# DGraduation day, I saw Kyle.) l; H8 g: S0 u. X4 M' l! W
, r9 D+ ^+ v6 i9 x) tHe looked great.! a9 C- `( x7 \. X
" Z# ]- b3 F9 }# z3 R% zHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.6 k3 g" ~0 {1 F+ p4 A6 r3 F9 [* X
# T T8 n, k' l0 T8 R1 v
He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
# d3 U5 G: B, s: `. B; Z; ^
) _9 N( ^8 y1 bHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
( r' o- U& q' T2 V+ g% d' _- s' Z& C2 z
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.+ o6 B5 x0 x% Y* s# a. \9 i1 W: P
' [( s: X% P2 }) f
Today was one of those days.
4 u( c! m0 p" z5 ], u) p. C% Z6 |: E% R4 a9 a0 |; B6 U3 F& |
I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
: W+ X* P, B# ?. z4 f
+ a7 Q" s* X, C* W9 i2 ESo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!". T% q2 ^/ N5 k$ L/ B
: e# `) n$ x ?6 q( ^. R; ^
He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
; u2 C; ^% k; \( \4 L% f/ o% Y' G5 V4 u" M
"Thanks," he said.
: a1 y6 @: V& I" O9 m0 `% @
2 F# W3 o3 n! U' c% vAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began* A4 Y) P% Z! D0 g. B. ]. V
* a2 Y0 v' F+ p0 i"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.& V. o6 W) d0 O3 a0 K0 i
5 k# [% R" a% B( G. ?4 m
Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...- | D" r5 s, u8 c/ k1 u' p0 H
0 |/ U7 h: u- ?+ G
I am here to tell all of you that being a) r& F; }3 w( a: @6 \
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.8 N, K) X0 L+ ?! u0 R! B6 E
9 `; W1 D9 H$ I9 m+ H; e5 T% g# Z/ v
I am going to tell you a story."
: d2 b. b: J) i8 a" ~& t7 @" X, V& u
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
* S& c7 O# g4 v" r9 j4 O: T5 Y
2 @$ T0 A0 Q8 b- HHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
1 o! |4 [& H6 m. ^' v) \& q
# y- W/ p6 G+ W- r( u- Y0 ?! q, aHe 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.# D9 a9 D* q% G% ^. N
$ f8 ?8 G( p/ h: [) v- r
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.5 k. U0 s) H0 `2 C: {. }, [
9 [; T- E9 o8 Z% y3 x"Thankfully, I was saved.
. B9 N% [/ r, b( n" F! l$ a; Y( w* x9 E9 R
My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
H, S# v9 @5 R* {) f9 k" |- G- }0 z$ P; L! l, T) t
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
0 _' j8 q) ~% t
. m3 c& H# Q2 a4 xI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.8 x, W9 _0 t- Z2 U2 B' ^6 b& X8 A+ C
5 J% h3 T2 j0 k& `Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.* F& h) {$ W, ^( ~
. {* I! S2 r9 ?
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
- u5 E. d- D9 l4 U
: f7 b; F8 @6 G# n& K. o9 OWith one small gesture you can change a person's life. Q# y0 q- [7 X) S& _" q
+ \5 q \% I" R$ w
For better or for worse.
- Q) u; k, _% N4 E! x9 l- d% v3 q+ }) e* g i" r( f
God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.# G& ^+ c7 z, c g4 z
7 k. n$ \8 l. N3 kLook for God in others.
) V4 U& B2 O3 H
2 ?" _) h, r" M* \0 w# oYou now have two choices, you can:
4 T9 m! h/ k5 L4 n2 R0 F! t- A1 ~- w5 V; U; I# e
1) Pass this on to your friends or
- ]' w" @: p! F8 U q" x6 ?! B6 U1 q2 Q; F: O
2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
5 p* y D5 t' K& Q$ E2 L3 S6 Z9 f! {. U1 r7 a( ?- |( K1 V0 X- E
As you can see, I took choice number 1.
& W! d( S) b5 w4 ~; K"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."& @ j3 M2 ?1 H- k' f) Q$ B
9 z) [* A9 I, k% G/ h) wThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.* J$ T/ L6 }& V' T0 G+ V* B3 Q
. Q/ q& f2 P4 l: Y9 o
Tomorrow is mystery.
5 A" D' Y* S- Y2 X
" y* T5 n& K. \$ F1 qToday is a gift.
% p# C4 T9 r" B8 M0 w/ f" y0 H. p/ I; G* I7 S6 I, V0 S8 |; R5 O$ h
It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.: a S) M! g0 V! G$ w
, z6 a' F' H+ S1 K1 M2 j3 v- \) DIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
|