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.
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It looked like he was carrying all of his
, S9 x8 x7 I5 X$ _% ?  HBooks.
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

$ ~- ?. b4 w5 j3 @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.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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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.

His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes

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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! {# A2 {2 t' G$ C% I/ EAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

6 z& B  [) k1 F( A! rThey really should get lives.
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

7 `7 S- Z% ~) O/ |: IThere was a big smile on his face.
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  l$ K3 v5 B. N* q5 g3 H3 c# RIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
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' A; ^$ r! L6 P4 P( K. g. EI helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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4 c) C4 `2 i" T# P1 LHe 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.
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; Q, C2 [8 |9 G8 F0 t1 l6 T" vWe 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.
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% j, A1 ]' Z0 {* D8 J0 ?I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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& T" y- G# n3 q# }) n2 A. ]He said yes.

7 h# c- N) t. }, mWe 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.

0 S+ x1 c8 C' O) A, fMonday 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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  e1 U; Y4 l# d% y9 n# L8 x! g7 B" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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+ \+ `( M" _3 [7 H5 ]7 j; B, m1 k2 O6 ?Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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! {1 Q- P7 a, A) h+ @# L: TWhen we were seniors, we began to think
About college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.

: N9 C" V' x/ s" ?) S% CI 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.
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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# {& `! T3 o( n2 P1 `, _0 w& BHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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5 |, G! g( Z0 o  I# \9 RI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.
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# k. z0 N; x" I9 X8 D7 h, LHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

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.
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/ i2 w9 l) b: A7 W; ~, ?$ W1 }Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

: b: N& d9 d2 [, h# g  y* o& LToday was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.

So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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: p3 Q/ F/ {$ c' KHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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3 q1 J* w/ W8 v"Thanks," he said.

, V" w; F+ G/ F0 P' pAs 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...

; ?* d& F; C/ _I am here to tell all of you that being a
7 p0 V  g; s8 v+ ]& QFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

I am going to tell you a story."

# O! V, n# o* w5 oI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

0 l0 J! n$ G; q6 X9 J  {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.

, N0 P- J  I) s" J4 UHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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"Thankfully, I was saved.

9 f6 n+ [" w4 \2 M, I% \. t# cMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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1 E% z  A: h& R$ sI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

* ?- U; L, u1 z3 G' z/ i4 o4 aNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.

2 e  v  Z7 H9 v' A$ gWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

" @2 T1 d3 D9 e: cGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

* e2 K4 ]  J9 {. V+ `/ QLook for God in others.

2 }* M& [. F* z! L5 WYou now have two choices, you can:
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, }# T4 u6 }2 e. e! o* o+ O1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.
9 o* n5 Q- g1 q3 f% Y0 F/ W8 ?"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.

+ V5 @; s( C/ }9 i8 IIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

, s& z* H( L0 l% [If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

  q8 r' L! K0 j9 |# ~Today is a gift.