 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
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' t# f O. u% MI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
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His name was Kyle.
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- o2 P/ ?9 r/ V( fIt looked like he was carrying all of his
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$ q1 p; p5 g! q3 z; u7 eI thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
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/ E! |, u0 q) p& v2 a" F5 sHe must really be a nerd."
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1 q6 k5 E9 ^) @$ @4 \, i; n: EI had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.. l9 i, f4 G' s5 m j. _; n
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As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.3 e5 }0 O) c) R( z7 y
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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.4 A- A2 \1 X2 Y* W. a, X
* a# s: J( z9 x+ y+ o T( y' DHis glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
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0 u% q% \4 V% \He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes
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. x3 [- m& b) ^/ rMy 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.# w7 F+ j5 F9 U9 G1 ^
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As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.8 c4 L ]2 k, B6 M5 X# k9 b
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They really should get lives.
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" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
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! k! q9 Q+ Q( HThere was a big smile on his face.
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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.! f! d3 a, v2 z! l F' j
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As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.$ c2 y1 c3 q; C3 x) g. P
% e% d& g# J, ?& U! e! aHe said he had gone to private school before now. h, S9 c0 p3 M) ]# U$ P, r
8 Z* t! P8 m% ]1 T6 Z6 LI would have never hung out with a private school kid before. a3 X; c# y! }
X2 Y6 V t |" q. Q/ ]. mWe 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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8 _6 \. J$ s" T3 y, k: UI asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.* \4 o; `3 w1 c6 z: j* `; {( u% K5 w
/ e+ f; W: D5 B+ }/ `. ^: l+ QHe said yes.
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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.9 e/ w) \" u9 p4 D: v9 ]9 |
6 X, l7 ]0 s# z; X6 i& s6 E( ~Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.! [# B( e9 W. D
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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.
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Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
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+ n! q. m' H6 FWhen we were seniors, we began to think9 _# i2 z: j6 G% n0 ?. i. h, J/ v
About college.
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Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I( A* }4 z- L' R1 W
Was going to Duke.
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I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.) L2 Q* h4 m+ B4 K. V- h, H8 w! b
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He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship., ?6 q% m4 R2 P. O" z
4 ^* }) e9 }- q% @Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
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3 P# }) c w6 |I teased him all the time about being a nerd./ I* c% [" c$ U4 s
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He had to prepare a speech for graduation.* }( h9 s4 W& [. B, u; p6 a
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I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
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" H6 S) r% w/ B: W+ wGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
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8 u9 d/ z, z; [; ?He looked great." S- S8 f) k/ j% T/ S
# ]1 e' `2 b7 c. B7 R, `He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.- c( B9 g; H9 O x+ q; W7 Z+ E. v
. h6 Q& F, R# ]He filled out and actually looked good in glasses./ k2 u4 a7 Q) A- f- W7 F7 S: ~
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He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.( M2 c" l+ a& y6 T; O' G5 M
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Boy, sometimes I was jealous.; X" L" j' }, Y7 ~) T. j
+ J% o, j& @7 A7 UToday was one of those days.
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I could see that he was nervous about his speech.$ C4 s& l* [7 i/ _8 i7 w( J% j
, R% c1 ~* L" \; v; R! H4 NSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
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He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
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"Thanks," he said.# w0 o; f9 j" N( Y0 [
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As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began! ^; @& a: @8 e' R# M
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"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.
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7 Y9 X# p2 E" C. O( V bYour parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
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I am here to tell all of you that being a
3 E# f6 N2 O( QFriend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
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I am going to tell you a story.". ^5 r4 |8 K' M7 P% y) L0 u' e
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I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.$ V% R, Y) ~$ B' a* o. g" D
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He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
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) m" X1 J; a% AHe 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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1 O) ~6 m& W! Q! AHe looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.5 |' v& M, i- Y. J! F" S; w
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"Thankfully, I was saved.) C3 g1 A$ O$ B5 P% n. w: h
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My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."/ E z% {% L/ m1 w
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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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I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
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) ~3 I9 N. w4 z- WNot until that moment did I realize it's depth.- X' [; C# A6 e/ q: U$ f' l9 P
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Never underestimate the power of your actions.8 q2 H) H5 ^) T7 l
7 t% D; L1 W- ?' SWith one small gesture you can change a person's life.$ V: c! A2 \9 \ c# D6 x4 T
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For better or for worse.
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God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.3 w1 p. P f( {/ Q
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Look for God in others.+ e# A( h3 n4 i: a+ i1 z$ N
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You now have two choices, you can:
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1) Pass this on to your friends or
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: d& D7 K: w6 H0 ^: U" L2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.0 F& ^. m' }4 p9 @4 I8 @
9 a7 y, |! I; _& x8 _& PAs you can see, I took choice number 1.* X7 E+ L# w" m8 O9 X
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."
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# s# v* g: X) A1 p: WThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
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Tomorrow is mystery.
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Today is a gift.- k, H4 l* O Z2 T* c- x( N+ u
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It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
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1 f- G/ p5 A# }/ n2 \, _If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. |
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