 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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0 e1 i9 N5 ?4 M! sI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.) z E: J O! c+ ]- }- d
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His name was Kyle.3 Q3 b* v* r: i
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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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He must really be a nerd."$ c4 t! I6 q* c& X! y" I
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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.; Y1 V6 ^3 m# J! R$ v3 R- E
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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. i3 ~; q0 B- t
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He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes- v) c) t+ j/ |8 |( B
8 H" G# r: B) c$ pMy 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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) s) B* Y' P1 j+ `# l+ _. ~- |They really should get lives.
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"6 l1 D. X {7 N( v
, x. G8 k2 I% U/ X) V; i9 ?There was a big smile on his face.' S1 I9 p* z$ c( J
% V# x# K ~+ @" g) uIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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( }$ L. B7 ~8 H% _) Y6 B1 dI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.2 ~% V6 L. E) u0 v4 O3 |
+ ^" m- W1 L, J! F9 GHe 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.4 x' [( }% Q* ]0 Q f3 O Q* x2 c
m+ @! Z0 q# k' Z5 D# tWe 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.) R5 l6 ~2 ]4 ^0 w7 J3 t" `! t
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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.; [' v' C$ j5 t- i# e6 Z* t- T
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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.
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0 z# @ P9 T' F! JMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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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.
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& ^4 `# R6 |1 {7 f' q4 cOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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5 O% C1 c r, @; C3 xWhen we were seniors, we began to think' _5 R; ]& x3 y5 O. ]! c
About college.4 @! w3 t* l+ g+ q- w' }
a7 a+ d* }: N4 v3 _. k+ vKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
" X- W) a9 c5 m& ?Was going to Duke.
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
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0 |! e+ G" D% v& j) iHe was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
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0 F* l2 W% K4 ]# ^8 MKyle was valedictorian of our class.0 \; w% Z7 H. h* H8 z
! |; V2 @ X/ CI teased him all the time about being a nerd.. b/ k# c, ~# l) g4 h. B8 ` S# u
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.- j9 b. M; a# ?% h% o# k
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I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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3 u# m4 ?; T% t7 z) i& m" J8 y5 o* w7 PGraduation day, I saw Kyle.: p2 f5 U7 ]. K$ R* f; Q9 J
! ]" E9 f( T! x" e- b; gHe looked great., e5 u" t8 r( Q, e$ p" Q9 i
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He 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.
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.0 u, a; ]9 H8 D9 J* ?# E
; K/ z5 v4 a, L" IBoy, sometimes I was jealous.0 C: x8 c3 j! e+ V8 I8 W( f
4 p2 n |/ ]* O0 A9 b, \" J" b' SToday was one of those days." g+ W/ U0 Y- u5 ? S2 M
# D7 F6 Q, Y0 S! {I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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: z# p% _4 r) R$ B% lSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"% I- q; [; J9 n+ {
" y# q/ Z# X' \( I: I7 m' d$ ~) rHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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7 I6 ]$ O. R* d2 J3 Q; t"Thanks," he said.
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: X9 r, l: c! J. O. ^As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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$ n5 T* ?0 u& F4 H P* Y5 Q"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.* s [: c. E( a4 I
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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p$ k5 ^* e* }/ Z* T7 uI am here to tell all of you that being a
( u9 Y, i, C7 BFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.6 A9 k9 I# ~% T, i0 W- [8 ^; u1 S S
+ i1 ~1 i( S9 ?* V$ E: }I am going to tell you a story."+ D- l6 [/ Y# e: M$ n6 ~
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.7 U1 B6 Z6 `" Q* n! B( A
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend." x; a4 b7 f$ W5 R5 I; ^* R& X
3 u* A3 @, \& l. K7 z8 a! k- q3 `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.: ~; O R) S3 I" l( m
x: m9 q- P4 P) |9 W9 vHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.' S/ c7 E. C" C' O/ k
- `4 B T9 z# W+ O# d" _5 e"Thankfully, I was saved.
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.": l% S/ B2 x, b9 J! r
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I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.2 e, b+ n( X% I6 H, n
$ ]; U7 s, y3 e+ N9 h) J- \- q: gI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.: b% E: W* G* V( c
4 z' n# \5 k) s; X) n" V, }* PNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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, O# b( {$ i: r ?2 wNever underestimate the power of your actions.% u" `( ^& U( G; }7 K( J7 w8 A
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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For better or for worse.$ l- ?% K6 {* G
* \2 L* w4 F. lGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.' c! @. K2 Z& K& d5 y$ n- k
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Look for God in others.2 u, D. _' F( p% D& @6 f, \
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You now have two choices, you can: G* \ P) G/ u* z
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1) Pass this on to your friends or
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2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.: p( t% g, \# \
3 b; l+ |4 Z- E' Y9 C8 qAs you can see, I took choice number 1.7 }& v, L0 b4 W0 M. B. @
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."8 N" {" D+ M9 B9 \
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There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history./ j8 f- ~) E5 a' K2 D5 A
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Tomorrow is mystery.
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& N2 e, b/ f9 n$ v1 v5 }( iToday is a gift.
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& C z4 L8 \" ^& N6 \; H; A6 ?It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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3 D8 I; B$ v0 k7 T5 A% tIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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