 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,0 j' H0 ]! l a! E" m
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I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.. D. s. P6 t M3 Y; J- |! o& f
5 g+ G- S% O2 s z6 [! ~( U; xHis name was Kyle.
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6 n/ w0 e$ \7 q! f+ X* [It looked like he was carrying all of his1 B) }' g6 |6 h2 a
Books.; _4 Q5 L7 {6 Q- h
- k# T' k5 ~2 o: ~/ V, M+ O+ j- Q8 OI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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0 |5 g7 O$ ~% j0 t. `# ^) IHe must really be a nerd."& r! y' u) ?7 `9 @- b+ ]8 s
' b' @, E" B/ P. L3 ~2 Z4 _I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.- g4 _- f- @0 h
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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him." _! U. Q# U7 P! o
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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.; C4 F+ A# Q @3 ^( K3 o' J' D
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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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: x8 I" G0 i; bHe looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes c7 N4 E# |0 t$ W
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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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; K8 l% p4 x$ ~) K- i BThey really should get lives.& J' v6 T' z& \
: |4 `" t/ ?, I8 m2 t3 I" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"8 K Y( ?. i6 n; _- P
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There was a big smile on his face.5 H! b$ N/ W9 n% E$ g
3 l1 J) ~+ O, x$ YIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.$ F. [; G7 t; R' C: ]( K, _& b% i
* x" d' ]+ J4 m: ?I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.6 w; B( Z8 L) H
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
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# j& g, ]* t: }" Y4 qHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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0 N. I# D7 l6 @6 [* XI would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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We 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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- }$ p) A* S& d0 r1 z4 }$ E. \* i; UI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.% w2 l4 j/ {+ ~+ ?: j' I- h& @
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He said yes.
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" Q% |: {2 h& hWe 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.3 D5 ?# g# |& E+ {/ L d- B
* K. }- z5 |- T( m1 I2 r; |Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.3 a8 C( W5 d3 H" E. _7 n' Q
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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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" He just laughed and handed me half the books.% a! p! a u; P$ n, `
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.0 k7 e# \* j& e$ x( E" s$ z
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When we were seniors, we began to think
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I( f/ o, K/ `$ h
Was 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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% `) }5 U% g* N, L# q) w# x4 \: qHe was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
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& ?, V- l# F6 D/ s9 G' N! DKyle was valedictorian of our class.
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd. a5 B7 k$ V" @3 }4 N' ~" U
7 b2 }8 Q3 c$ T4 ], p0 e* D" `He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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, O1 ?/ g$ f+ T: pI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak3 e" ^% c8 C* C+ t# }
! ~& d+ ~ o& C5 L4 i$ U+ ]0 cGraduation day, I saw Kyle.: ?% a ^8 K- H; } v2 n
?, O. Z! l4 v- Q/ k, P+ PHe looked great., N. {4 f8 [- }3 _+ R# D
7 f' s/ e5 @0 C9 n# w1 VHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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4 v1 K' j; m3 S9 J' [He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.' S& g) I* [) K1 B$ _8 V
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
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) I! _- A; n* m6 x: Z" n+ }Boy, sometimes I was jealous.& s& m0 B- N3 C. C: C. }% L0 c
; O8 d; ^+ p6 E" s3 VToday was one of those days., B2 |0 ^+ M; q$ u9 Z% f5 h
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.4 B( R- c$ ^: @; j9 L- i" l m, ~
K9 P0 F' W+ k+ j5 FSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"8 O3 X7 O! m; U% r, ^6 L- J: l- \
! ^% A y* r9 |4 YHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.9 x3 U& N4 N6 A) G" z" j
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"Thanks," he said.+ l1 P$ w6 P `( E0 R# h: R( z
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began3 Y; [# U, ^5 A0 `1 r+ E$ I
0 J% d/ ^ D8 K$ ~$ J"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.( b/ p R, K7 _2 `& i- f
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...& o5 d+ W# g$ Q0 g: w
h0 k4 {6 Q0 ]2 ]( N3 a" \I am here to tell all of you that being a0 V% c. f z& O
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.( p! p& j; l' U+ Z' t
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I am going to tell you a story."" p) B# f2 b j
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.4 Z2 t1 X0 ^ v2 M ~# Z0 B
, o6 e$ Q! b' ^1 i: kHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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5 y1 T' ~" `: Z9 c0 VHe 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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2 ]; q) D" O5 u! O2 q1 {3 @% m" BHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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+ |8 R7 Q( s. y ~1 z1 L1 r: p"Thankfully, I was saved.) i4 v O! m; X T- ?( D
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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.
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, \+ K H; x$ t& V. aI 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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) F% a& i( B( N3 H; n0 kNever underestimate the power of your actions.: s3 D3 p% S* O/ Y) p# T: C0 O
0 Z3 a* ~) y& v( M8 QWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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8 k1 \/ v- R" e) H, d$ {For better or for worse.$ F8 b# I# f. B) S+ \* U1 t
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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.
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You now have two choices, you can:6 }# ?# A; w' N8 u- r, B) m
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1) Pass this on to your friends or) y# u; G6 L6 R1 U' Y
$ f _* g; b( y( z2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.( D) S- H3 q8 ?2 ~, u- P' ]
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.4 |7 P% o% ?8 @4 f9 o& S/ f7 h1 C
"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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Tomorrow is mystery.
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! K0 T; d! C# i5 u' y) w9 dToday is a gift.& A5 D1 x# B% F& @+ b8 Q
! M2 t4 E/ E. sIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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! u( ^6 V+ r, l) P/ n" i0 vIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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