You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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& b% l  x/ h9 eI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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8 M4 S8 h# I  ^/ n) yHis name was Kyle.
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. n! O' `3 r8 w. N" ]It looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.

I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

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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& N8 r8 s+ w2 tAs I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
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6 M; g# ]) G: U( v' H' k9 JThey 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
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5 ?; M; I- y6 Z1 u* {9 |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.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

7 R, m# T2 N" c- `They really should get lives.
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.

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.
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

He 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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/ @; K$ Q( t( Z" v4 K) }* JWe talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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3 W9 Z/ K. q( O: C  K4 p" `+ H3 }He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
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9 @8 h+ ]7 u7 O( z) ^9 ^) LI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He said yes.

) |, n7 @9 P; B- k  J5 yWe 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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5 L& v, k0 n! [1 uMonday 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!

" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
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& F0 M5 k1 p& d9 C7 mOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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7 p' d  D+ z' V3 ^% E  NWhen we were seniors, we began to think
About college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
8 ~2 \9 {" O; J$ \: @2 Q) @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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3 Z: n- V! P2 N1 o; DHe was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
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0 [4 N, l  W4 R) ZKyle was valedictorian of our class.
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( ]% a( C8 H2 C# _9 jI teased him all the time about being a nerd.
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/ O: ]' s+ T# hHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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1 n; ?( O0 q: [* F- jI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

8 j8 Q5 G4 p$ U' c: aGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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He looked great.

3 ]: }# H+ f$ c8 [3 S1 N' ^1 E! t1 W1 yHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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" A- L! ]0 j0 A. |, ~: U$ G; i/ PHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
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3 j3 N; U& [0 m2 nHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
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0 y  q# [6 M, k3 y% J0 JToday was one of those days.
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, s4 Y; d( [) w! \& f; I- pI could see that he was nervous about his speech.
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9 o5 M& N+ U" JSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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/ ]. ^9 p% d4 b6 W2 |He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

"Thanks," he said.

As 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...

I am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

% b, x, t: I. e6 f* B  |I am going to tell you a story."

1 S' W0 J$ {. ?9 ?4 kI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
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- ~/ ^3 m) R# H$ M/ AHe had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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. T" L( F5 ]- X" e! iHe 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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"Thankfully, I was saved.

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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5 l" }8 L. g5 i2 II saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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6 N: H! u7 N) M& G) N+ T0 ~5 N# pNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.

; j. I& G9 C9 ?6 uNever underestimate the power of your actions.
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  |' ?/ }% A" G6 x8 i, R+ zWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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/ C0 z+ @+ q8 n  bFor better or for worse.

$ D$ n4 Z9 v3 Z0 W/ S) zGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
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Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:

1) Pass this on to your friends or

; D5 {0 P8 a) R# Q2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
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As you can see, I took choice number 1.
  w. `: _3 l' {; B  b* ~0 v"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

7 u- E& ~: Z$ j3 R+ DThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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7 ]& K- k/ _# Y( J: gTomorrow is mystery.

' `3 ], u$ Q; f' s: k& lToday is a gift.

; g' I1 Q: V8 YIt'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.

高桥

Yesterday is history.
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! `, O2 J2 Q) UTomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.