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.
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1 K& W* }) \# z- H: I! u: g8 ~His name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
& o  t/ q) M# H/ ?. G$ i2 BBooks.

I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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" y+ k8 `8 z# q4 C6 SHe must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

$ R( a8 b: O: N. ZAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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) c; T& c" ?; i( _; J+ q' S! g  g0 yThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

+ y- d4 G# D9 u. eHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

$ {0 H; C$ G* ~7 x* E/ S' v+ YHe 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.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

2 T9 j, W; U& D3 R/ ]- O" [# SThey really should get lives.

" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

  m0 }. d5 {6 M; @$ {% dThere was a big smile on his face.
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0 A; F/ G, f( ?9 l1 DIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

$ y& f, N& E# @: BAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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5 i0 m6 i- ^, _# s: E3 z0 m; GHe said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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- L) d, D$ m% @9 R, _6 [( d0 ?He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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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.

- l' M6 \! y0 tWe 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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8 n$ D6 ~) P( c2 Y; AMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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3 a: h+ E0 D7 d6 L) R# OI stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

, }$ H, E7 Y1 J" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

/ Y* w9 m9 T4 a- u4 X# a8 B1 |Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.

0 _! C  c7 u4 J) j9 ?2 s4 V# OI 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.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

" o9 ?$ y9 m* A" v4 [" ^7 ?5 T0 eI teased him all the time about being a nerd.

2 t$ q2 Q5 g% ]; SHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

& S& g; J) _. i1 ~8 K: H8 \# b6 VGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

He looked great.

( L6 ?" v/ g2 |# h  ?! |He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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7 m4 |  t/ m8 z4 pHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

& h- Z+ u' }* o5 b' ?He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

* J  K& ~' j' |, i1 jBoy, sometimes I was jealous.

! t* y5 s& q) J; M+ C- M+ V/ [Today was one of those days.
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$ [* t; j; p5 i$ U* ~: b+ p$ d9 tI could see that he was nervous about his speech.

3 {5 Q3 e. m  J( i9 w6 ~) j  oSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

! n( Y0 g, M9 x"Thanks," he said.

# {: Q& P# O7 [, w1 |- xAs he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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7 ^, ?% ]) c1 r$ zI am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

  @8 C4 G% i$ {6 @2 V/ CI am going to tell you a story."

& Y- q) x) i7 H9 h8 f) `; H. eI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

/ c- C/ N7 |% w) J/ \, g# J# ]He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

# t7 l4 r/ {) v: H, oHe 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.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

My 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.

$ i, ^* T3 o1 z' o# MI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

0 n, i* y: p/ J4 |8 I+ [" `* L) N# bNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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, k* s0 ~: A" _With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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) l6 ~# f7 S1 K0 n& @For better or for worse.

6 j  A8 A9 k' d& }God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.

. p# p' F1 ?" B/ B9 F. c" R9 yYou now have two choices, you can:

1) Pass this on to your friends or
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2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

As you can see, I took choice number 1.
$ W" M8 t" e9 A# F* f+ o) Q"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."
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& ?* t4 a$ L( xThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

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.
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3 Q5 W6 V* e& |! `  m1 A( SIf 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.