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.

& p- l( u3 \0 B4 ~6 gHis name was Kyle.
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/ ]) p- R! i8 TIt looked like he was carrying all of his
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I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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7 }+ D7 `  X% W) s1 d: |- _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.

, V: N0 T  e% l3 ]* M( [As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

3 R( |5 V0 d3 g1 O9 fThey ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
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2 s. F2 q0 @6 ?) i5 w" z) KHis 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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" U/ O7 w5 g2 Y) `! }As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.

They really should get lives.

" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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There was a big smile on his face.
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; z* D$ B! g8 r" i, RIt 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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8 ^9 ?2 B$ M' l( A4 mAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

4 Q$ D; t0 h5 o3 i+ y2 S$ y( @5 i; j+ IHe said he had gone to private school before now.
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4 `: B) S! @8 s( x1 b8 ?I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

( Q& ^/ Z4 v! b" V! Z- N' |4 }We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
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. J+ A# o1 i, P0 W2 b9 P: DHe turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

9 z& E7 G  @+ n3 w; VI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
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  Z! d1 N7 q' ]& |He said yes.
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. J% h! w* `; EWe 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.

% _& T1 G' T- ~8 }' `Monday 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.
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When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
2 }, M- E. x7 j4 b: UWas 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.
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Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
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I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

" Z9 M/ e& @9 j8 @He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
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. i) w0 [) |1 B4 h$ ]0 u: l9 nI was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak

, b) j2 V4 @8 {9 X* PGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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) t9 H7 d) f# _* U8 r( WHe looked great.

He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
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0 c; [2 O" o0 V2 @: l; X) q' WHe 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.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days.
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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!"
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( d2 k6 S$ Y' T, ZHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

5 m$ j' n3 ~: G8 T% v7 M"Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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" L6 L: Z4 ~6 k5 [Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

I am here to tell all of you that being a
3 l" _9 o& ?; ~; {Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

8 ^+ U! m. K+ v1 pI am going to tell you a story."

3 G2 u! W, N, f2 OI 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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, D5 q& c, V4 G5 e1 qHe 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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! A+ G7 v) A* D# O0 jHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved.

3 ~4 ?8 }4 V; mMy friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
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: h" o) A3 g5 rI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

' a% K) J1 A; N3 I- m. cI saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
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+ c4 R7 A# D* g2 W7 MNever underestimate the power of your actions.
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With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
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2 l8 R  t' f+ O: O) [For better or for worse.
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2 y: k  k# E/ SGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.
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You now have two choices, you can:

" V1 C, b0 S$ D; K' S1) Pass this on to your friends or
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& e$ m  m1 M+ V, ~0 o! U* h6 q2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

As you can see, I took choice number 1.
1 v. Q- X0 Z" w5 u5 i/ l"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

& U  m: |2 g( ^( `There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.
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# C: g0 v0 |# L% @& p2 E' vToday is a gift.

* F6 j7 z2 c! S3 ?It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

( ]9 S( _9 ^& J3 v: k5 g+ a( @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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7 K# c' u3 c6 `) n) wTomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.