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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,, _8 y- ^" ^5 N E |' l
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. N8 h# R0 Q* s Y8 y$ u$ \8 p! o1 ~: u
4 D7 _8 @, v* P2 F+ hHis name was Kyle.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his; u) c/ L3 x, U* n+ {: p
Books.
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! e+ J5 f* J- d! {3 V- UI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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He must really be a nerd."
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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.2 ?" X3 J! r8 m1 i
1 v5 p! X# [$ N) f; h `9 @They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. }; r( |6 V0 h$ E
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His 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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/ }& }4 k% ^, z' G1 p- lMy 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. B3 B6 ^5 e7 |: B& z9 I
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.4 A4 ^" B" r q* j6 C y
2 ~( W, M, E( F' xThey really should get lives.
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7 ~) h7 t7 D( u9 e+ T2 T, o$ K! V" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"2 Q+ A) x8 @: b9 j& p2 Q4 o
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There was a big smile on his face./ b) q3 d5 d5 E$ A: Y* ^; D$ P
9 `. ] i- R6 A4 W6 e8 ~( _It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.3 E t ^ c8 ~- m
W5 l; I m' U2 c/ J8 XAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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( \0 d" {; y0 t% P+ P2 D4 JHe said he had gone to private school before now.& |$ x R2 x, c; ^6 x$ l& g
3 b/ A" d7 B6 A$ [9 Z% [' JI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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. }. f2 h8 F7 ~# e& z- @We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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2 b0 S+ x5 J, V! L# w. y# s7 kHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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& ]# o# N8 r0 MI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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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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1 [* e' k0 N' J B+ h- L% CMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
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( x7 m: b4 w! KI 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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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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When we were seniors, we began to think& _1 _7 C% ]; ?1 d
About college.' y, e+ o; l+ B/ L
5 l6 z9 `; z7 fKyle decided on Georgetown, and I" b& o) v9 E+ @( W
Was going to Duke.
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem." l$ ]" l% z5 j3 f& a
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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.
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) s: [( z* A8 C; W u- {I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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9 S8 F( @5 t. W; zI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak! X5 W4 i# l( O4 o3 P0 e
+ E4 r6 k+ B2 M+ j0 n1 MGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.! X5 e$ {3 v* ^/ W* n( l
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.4 A0 n7 w- k! x; f% j& M
' t3 m# w; b. Q/ h# F) D N4 d" THe 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.
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.6 w1 U- Q" S- o G, U5 n
1 L; @# a/ {, ~! |1 n) q! s( YToday was one of those days.1 H7 T- }) h* ] a
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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So, 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.
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"Thanks," he said., {$ Y- q: T3 o! M' P( N: \
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began3 N: [6 `0 M8 V% W O W
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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..., v( l/ J" o1 F
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
" ~ c4 l2 }: E+ CFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.. s9 B, L5 q7 D/ ?$ m6 p# y
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I am going to tell you a story."
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.1 ^" S6 d1 }% V8 r8 y8 K& o4 q1 V3 u
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.1 Y O4 [! h- M- ~ @, k
9 \6 J2 X* H6 D9 o6 c3 b XHe 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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! v2 p! [4 O- y7 r3 W: KHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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: b) M$ M+ t: ?( ]8 R/ T"Thankfully, I was saved.% o* o0 N3 S* y& D: z+ `
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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.& N! ?9 h. _4 ^( Z
5 t! [& b( ]$ ]9 ^5 N* s6 H) 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.
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* n% S6 a) w$ \1 e, d3 Z ]Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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: V* s, h( i+ LWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.+ D' b5 z' }( v8 h
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For better or for worse.$ Y$ k( z0 L! ]
4 ^2 P$ N/ r- 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.2 [& P0 C/ O1 y0 [' `! f
9 P& f% F* v; [) xYou now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or6 E2 M2 X( g0 x7 [, o% z; \
. b% R$ u8 [0 R2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.) t0 ]# u+ D/ h7 m& S
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."
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8 @4 Q' }, ` y3 K! H. J* aThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.0 S. }4 u- T1 s* k
0 i m7 b- y. V# ?# _$ kTomorrow is mystery.
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2 j' z0 p G3 q$ e7 k. s* XToday is a gift.1 Y7 \: c x+ A, o% S+ K( M
3 z7 R8 @3 }# b, FIt'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. |
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