You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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9 p# r, L. g- w. R$ L" S7 JI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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. F- N% K/ u" D, g( y+ X. LHis name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his
9 D# H7 G( r8 l( m& VBooks.

9 p! S1 y6 b1 A. ]$ e) yI 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.

They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

! q5 d1 O  Y3 }7 S# F: c  {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

% F( i, t! M$ P; M4 _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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0 [+ ]4 e7 l0 b5 M; ~) V9 CAs I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
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0 ]  {5 [4 Q( R3 D$ h3 OThey really should get lives.

5 a3 B- z! A. J" x+ ^8 k, X" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.
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It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
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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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6 z9 I! }7 V- ]7 L; H% `3 F) MHe said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
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; d0 g% \" Z& u/ N6 V8 E) nWe 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.

7 A. M( H8 Z0 I9 i8 b4 uI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

' Q% \: M8 |+ ?: ]8 J; \He said yes.

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.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

! {5 Q1 G# X5 V9 N* E4 E8 QI 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% ]! R4 a3 L5 r6 ?( oOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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& m8 s  E4 J  s- D1 E( QWhen we were seniors, we began to think
About college.
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& M) @. K; N& ]( tKyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.
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; Z0 x" P4 L' n. j0 w) \6 q) \I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.

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.

( O) F/ j0 J0 B% Q+ m" E  PI teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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& p* C2 Y) b) J( ?7 M2 iHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.

" l- X$ N) n  W( \I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.
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: g' s6 Q4 O9 Z: }0 E) \- dHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

8 W4 J' x6 X" E: ?; X9 R# Q0 g8 HHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

& }2 d  ^; f  ?( y& EHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

3 b6 L- _1 C- o" t2 D" e) sBoy, sometimes I was jealous.
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' q3 y% h  ~0 H# A+ B3 D- XToday was one of those days.

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!"

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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/ z7 F1 e& F: J( W/ y"Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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6 P8 F2 _/ P6 k6 z. Q2 f6 p"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

; b8 f7 B$ ~( Q% q. s' `Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

0 C, q$ q& g( D  m) CI am here to tell all of you that being a
) q) s- J$ j. g  vFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

I am going to tell you a story."

  C# p( n1 m+ r8 W5 D# J3 u9 tI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

0 y3 B/ G# U5 \2 wHe 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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He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
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' D6 g: z- b: t1 i"Thankfully, I was saved.

1 W8 I7 R2 p( r- z& y7 b* k* OMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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& @2 @: C% f3 g6 U# v7 [# kI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
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# q* @& L) Z* j% _3 l& _I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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! K7 Z6 U8 F8 c3 y9 A- `Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.

6 C8 K7 J5 H7 Y1 eWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

2 m* Y) B7 Q* n, |( C& H8 R; D! YLook for God in others.

7 ]; h1 p$ A) x9 I+ x  f/ KYou now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or

) S4 [" i6 i2 ?/ m2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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) r$ C" x! ?7 E+ `/ sAs 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.

Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.

! j* K. [  f  Q  S& O" v9 BIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

3 J8 P- `- S  l/ V$ g( C& SIf it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.

& _' y+ r! ?9 D* U  d# d) _Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.