 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,7 R: @, p( C6 o8 V
* f- V7 a5 G, D2 CI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.9 f: ^3 I1 r" G! V- j, ]- S2 t
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His name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
1 |; D- m/ Q2 s JBooks.9 t- Y2 D1 Y) W: n
8 g! d: ^1 o# ]: p1 FI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? n! M# M/ t* x( Z" p8 T* o6 p( Q
) U% E4 Q' Z% s( H2 w/ j( CHe must really be a nerd."* a [. f4 e) a) s) M! O9 y
7 J# O$ W2 F" I3 z8 xI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on." W; w2 W5 P0 o7 W: c8 X
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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.! m! C; c# d' V) l- f4 _
; R( P8 C- o# ^* j1 p" PThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.; h: V5 `7 U) t% B1 M$ ^
! f3 r: \0 v, `7 k# EHis 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.. j8 C3 P F; _% y
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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.+ @1 v F' B1 H6 t8 z$ m# A
) J8 s% b7 h4 ^6 {5 B/ ^" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"8 t/ L/ K* p( d# A+ K* f# g
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There was a big smile on his face.5 W( c$ ]3 ^- [5 r# Z
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It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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/ N0 n8 C0 U. D4 g6 FI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.: t1 G& K2 k9 p
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.5 j6 p, |1 q! h
3 P+ N. X* O/ a1 OHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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8 Z# Q" Y' B" I* r: f( H0 SI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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4 {9 J& S! ~' Z" b% R% oWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.3 p" E! d* p( }+ p8 ]" ^, W
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He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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# o0 k+ O, K4 \7 v1 {I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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He said yes.* h2 j- K; {8 \- R& T
x C1 q3 f/ BWe 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.3 ~# O/ z( b) `* r" @' Y
/ H, I+ k- @: `* d& x6 U+ v/ JI 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.# \) G7 D1 A- r; x1 w) d
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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$ L$ \/ K2 A! L; l, dWhen we were seniors, we began to think. e8 G3 r+ W$ a2 x! ~. h! C: o
About college.- c9 j" f. g6 t+ v4 _" C8 T
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
$ S2 a: \. `( E9 ZWas 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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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.- Q" G; U) v( [- _8 Q
+ b# ]; p8 G; x# u( K9 mI teased him all the time about being a nerd." |" q* \/ e8 o p: P
( W p6 L/ a5 K1 ]. GHe had to prepare a speech for graduation./ l: D- D( S0 i+ w t6 M9 m& _& }
! d; k. q- d' T' t6 y8 g: b# aI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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9 I4 Z( i# T; Z, S9 ?( ~" \Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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. i0 e2 V) f. EHe looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.$ H9 a& F% |5 R. w7 b# ?
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He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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& g8 ]: K+ b. H( ~9 C$ M% lHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.! p4 u+ t3 a5 J- d5 C$ Z- u
; Q1 @( J% [+ TToday was one of those days. x" o2 T+ }" ^/ E9 h
7 x/ Z5 ?; v- Q$ K! I- @# mI could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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# T, M. ^5 _" @' SSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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5 j7 Y* y5 \' p$ W8 E4 U- e% jHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.' U7 i. j! S# w3 q9 R) [
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"Thanks," he said.9 e v1 ?! Q' {$ U4 q+ g
2 }8 q5 N: [6 N$ n+ ?2 OAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began& B l* ~ f; I. L$ Y0 P4 K
# {3 Z8 X+ p# A( y, H7 H) O1 M6 C"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.; }/ \3 W7 y2 x8 W6 A
) S0 y7 F/ F: I+ \' x x) }2 V. Z" uYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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. r! U' a6 a9 f) x7 E9 `I am here to tell all of you that being a# v5 l: C6 f% I( N6 Q9 u
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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I am going to tell you a story."5 t/ }" F T) S; V0 r
& H: u+ P" o7 i! d$ cI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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: Z) t( X8 s" k! B8 H& C s5 nHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.& z; h; F! e( E! _& o8 r
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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.
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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.# e3 R& s$ o2 v) [4 A% ?
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"Thankfully, I was saved.
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."9 o7 }0 b0 Q' F2 v
7 L6 i5 ]: e0 [9 U" _I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.3 r0 m) [6 q& [+ q1 s
- u1 E( ` {1 g. C! h# II 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.
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0 P& p' r8 F( oNever underestimate the power of your actions.; P9 H1 Q) [# B; a3 X
: r, p _2 |1 ]- ~4 O! mWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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: J5 Q2 [8 c0 x6 w$ U X$ K) ?For better or for worse.
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# n! p3 E8 t) O+ y3 vGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.7 f8 U h4 m3 [0 P1 e$ Y" b
7 ^! }- e7 r% ^% ?You now have two choices, you can:+ X0 C; B5 }) i
2 r1 q* r$ k0 f5 {8 a$ k# b0 |$ P4 \9 r1) Pass this on to your friends or- o. d+ j6 s+ }- }1 B3 U- M, D
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2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.* e% a2 }% E/ f8 |% P
, A/ h: u1 @3 `0 y8 s2 nAs you can see, I took choice number 1.
3 D2 {% w4 `6 K, i7 m, g/ _; h2 Y"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." y. `/ B6 E. B, V
0 M0 f" h/ `$ m6 g3 ITomorrow is mystery.$ I. M6 a) E, h7 j8 g4 M
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Today 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.7 b ]# w; Q# o/ ^; Q/ d0 _
! E, `9 V4 O! SIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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