You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

His name was Kyle.

$ D3 G! ^. W& r8 y+ r% \& a; |4 o3 zIt looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.

I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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# ], I0 g" Z' W6 q6 yHe must really be a nerd."
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, y+ C+ R5 I# P5 y" }# fI 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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$ v* B" N$ m0 hAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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( }- H' V2 g& A4 h" y  _They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

. b! f& B3 I/ R4 e4 Q5 ?: ZHis 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 eyes
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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.
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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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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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, [. Z( I! I9 C+ L6 f# }There was a big smile on his face.
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8 I3 p7 }2 N' w( YIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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' _; C6 j4 o, _# D( E; P6 ]0 {As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

He said he had gone to private school before now.
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' O1 ]. k4 S3 r. K1 y" E: zI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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" L# G8 X/ e( b. \2 oWe 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.

* W7 G" X: _. M$ ^I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

$ ^4 X+ `+ S( t- ^) r( Y1 ]0 X% I1 \He said yes.
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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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Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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( f8 y$ f( Y( }7 B: S1 WI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

$ y3 T+ E1 Z4 J7 ?8 e2 f" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

. l' o3 X+ q/ M; j. r4 a8 ^. i0 b' FOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
6 K# d4 y! c! }- V5 uAbout college.

! n2 a7 P. |% N2 pKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
* Y0 ^: v7 `  n; l7 T! t* zWas going to Duke.

) H. R- |! ^* QI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.

7 Z8 p9 j" A* J4 q. h3 zHe was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

! f& F' a* {2 tI teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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0 R' l, J( e5 }8 L; }# cI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

7 Z5 ], c) Q1 G3 {4 @+ o" l  uGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

' @3 F8 [% q- ~- ZHe looked great.
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, T" h2 `& Y% j  bHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

$ w5 z9 W( R* D) KHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

3 x9 X, V8 |. V& PBoy, sometimes I was jealous.
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. d' D. c* q& h, PToday was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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( }' j6 M4 u, ?6 n; ESo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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2 t% g$ j6 r" V! i" E! `5 K7 o! cHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

% {/ J0 i" P' w, J( d, P: R"Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

I am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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. e4 W  ?, D5 J+ ~/ T: lI am going to tell you a story."

5 J0 _+ J2 j4 I2 l4 j9 M5 VI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

0 e- M5 {/ R+ b9 a; i0 w! g0 VHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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) |# q8 k2 u% E( gHe 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 M1 [! u* g3 f$ w+ f! a2 d* UHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

; ]6 D0 x( D8 F5 I$ bMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
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/ R$ s8 d3 N, M  F3 c6 RI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

! J; N/ {% F, ?% p8 @" c2 A7 WWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

) ]9 e3 j% t6 n. CFor better or for worse.

: f1 _) W* {9 S8 d+ H5 CGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:
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. E- S. l: T3 @# O2 l1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

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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There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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2 {- B1 t. N: |( g7 Y0 Q9 qTomorrow is mystery.
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" ]$ L+ O* l" r% @! ?Today is a gift.

& p6 @$ P5 Z5 OIt'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.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.