You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,

* O7 ~9 s. i# E0 w' p9 GI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

3 I# K6 _) K: {! V0 _- D, o" I9 ]His name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.
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+ Q% V0 U5 p+ A) ?& e7 _  `0 ^I 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.

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

They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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$ B5 Z6 ^* v% f, ~2 oHis 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.
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+ F; O2 H; C  D& @As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
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They really should get lives.

" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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+ ?' q3 x$ t  ^/ H/ aThere was a big smile on his face.

9 E- m4 y% k  E& E; u: o! d$ C1 r0 M; zIt was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

* o' z+ k! R( [* r/ M  cI 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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He 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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" S$ _) J% d, oWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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0 R8 n" g! Q( }2 e, ~' m& OHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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5 t& G( p  s* K( s7 {( Q  TI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

6 g$ V! L* a; `& o0 vHe said yes.

, k8 R0 ^6 U  ]6 D7 QWe 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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; x# x8 }& U. rMonday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

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.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

( [. B5 ^% d+ H4 p  AWhen we were seniors, we began to think
7 b6 E* X" X% K8 B" J$ }. D4 IAbout college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
( P& H  t( S+ @/ ]1 lWas going to Duke.

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.

& l5 B* M% s: q; c- ^* ZKyle was valedictorian of our class.
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# N& o! A0 \! k$ \I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

8 j  X5 S! v& {I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

# N: `9 Q9 A- @% OGraduation day, I saw Kyle.

He looked great.
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He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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( i+ ~7 q. h% Z. D/ aHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
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Today 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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2 A( t# W2 M" P, Q0 S* @He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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"Thanks," he said.

4 |4 A- W) h. v  GAs 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.
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Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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3 a6 Y5 j- O0 x+ cI am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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I am going to tell you a story."

1 f# N/ D+ O3 z. ^I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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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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! F, O% ~, B4 M" |7 M) F) S) YHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

% T8 Z: k- |- f5 t: P9 @0 F0 ["Thankfully, I was saved.
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+ Y' S) \+ N& V6 AMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

) P. I2 R" g* W) U2 ZI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
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I 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.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

* x$ Q' Y1 h1 g- Y/ lFor better or for worse.
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God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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6 r/ U/ P+ y% F3 xLook for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:

1) Pass this on to your friends or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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5 o" m% Z, _7 w, J" P# m3 f& oAs you can see, I took choice number 1.
"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.

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.

8 ~$ H1 g$ `0 U8 jIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

3 e! U7 Q0 b; ~( RTomorrow is mystery.
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3 w/ d" I7 ?; I1 K( CToday is a gift.