You never know

sweetspot

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
2 u7 x! }& I" N* J) v+ r; f6 S' |
' |0 l5 \+ Z# ?' J- D9 `$ q' m7 NI saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

. _- M+ V5 U% b: FHis name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his
Books.

$ K: f3 o* u( ^I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
( ?( N$ D% j4 O  K1 j/ z
He must really be a nerd."

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.
: \: o, C; E5 l2 D# Z+ @, o4 d
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

6 b/ Z+ U5 ], X/ QHis 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

! [& L" G9 Z+ P2 VMy 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.
$ x$ N- r5 s1 ^2 u7 ?6 _; J
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
. _! v8 I; L  t9 u, s/ f: @) _
4 a$ t, n- s1 `They really should get lives.
# b( q6 n+ v7 A  `3 h
  c1 \. i/ }( r" He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
5 Y- \. X& c  \
There was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.
! v, F# w' _0 L  c) i; k6 f+ V
/ |* Z/ Q3 f9 {/ EAs it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
/ R6 w" F5 A! @) A7 b2 l4 t
. e3 k2 U8 S' X- C0 m: AHe said he had gone to private school before now.
3 i9 z* a5 [8 S
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
# Q  i% }8 z- I1 _2 W, e, f# l
We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
) `4 A/ J& [1 K' i, i  {* T6 F" i
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
' T' a# b% V: N
He said yes.
2 e) @3 `* g4 V4 l9 }, y% u6 S6 w
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.
$ l' b7 ~6 b+ I
! p# |. _5 d3 Y* ~; JMonday 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.
+ e' k* X' E' E+ x7 s. S
" `6 C% w: b' J9 Z+ l0 X5 k% fOver the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors, we began to think
About college.
- ?  ?8 ?! w! g. z
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
Was going to Duke.
% v. b6 ^  i& g
+ {  J/ @4 G3 c/ Q0 pI knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
% K5 T  h1 p& G+ T  c6 L3 a
/ `* ]0 v4 S& J" R& F4 w, `He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
2 H* o7 A9 K4 E0 P
Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

- b. J! ~7 j$ ~% T9 p* SI teased him all the time about being a nerd.

0 ]# g5 e: `& D% UHe had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak
# h, `+ P+ Z2 b' s5 c. S( E3 l: t
, p% @1 @! j! T) X1 L2 F3 N/ gGraduation day, I saw Kyle.
4 u: o0 h2 B) B, l% V
He looked great.
, u" J  [/ w- s
" q3 Q* \- j" N8 ~! i, NHe was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.
& J# y: g0 C/ x/ a, G
/ n5 ~5 V* D( O5 B3 kHe filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
2 v: f1 S$ Q3 ?; d- q& R; }4 b  o
8 {7 C* Y1 d, c+ ]; c1 _8 K  a& a( RHe had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
) \6 ^. T; W* \- f1 F; z
/ G; V- W( X. k% B/ BBoy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days.
0 @( E2 v6 G: Z6 i6 o4 n8 i
# d2 Z- V2 O$ X& [  ^( M" B3 tI could see that he was nervous about his speech.

% n9 W7 ^0 J" ~' F" mSo, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"

: Z4 z1 i! T0 `$ n$ ^! B3 p/ ?$ zHe looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
  z7 A$ }! d+ ^; n( C5 ^6 _
"Thanks," he said.

. a% L) a1 _( \6 v) Z( X1 `/ lAs 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.

1 ^- U, T) I! ^3 R9 @7 F/ e) p1 p4 F* ?Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

0 N& p1 U4 o: B+ ^. M# W$ RI am here to tell all of you that being a
Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
5 ?% u6 N7 y' j. C# L
1 A9 Y! J) A; y! uI am going to tell you a story."
' i! P. ]4 d1 L; p+ n) N
. i0 m  r6 q+ ~' w; @+ zI just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
, n& C. @5 l8 \" U7 D
" O# P/ G* R+ P9 ?. ]6 \He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

) |, b- w$ q& ~) {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.
$ W3 B. x* P! |* ^+ A
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
8 X$ {+ f5 B8 O- p0 ^
"Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

6 K  J( h2 r7 L% S  OI heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
% `0 d: [5 F. d3 x& {$ f! U# f6 Z
# j; r2 ]+ h: W* x7 i9 y7 |: INot until that moment did I realize it's depth.
6 O: g) g0 ^5 I
3 Q7 L% i- M3 S4 v, zNever underestimate the power of your actions.
) o+ T) Y' e' {8 H% L/ G
With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.
# X' C# G& E$ t6 F  N9 X
7 [$ y) [# A8 ~3 Q7 GGod puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
4 o2 {8 l- @. |) z
- S0 T5 C  J' R, f3 GLook for God in others.
: J& V2 D! A- X7 g
You now have two choices, you can:
! X+ B; }8 j# `% i1 c- V: \6 L
1) Pass this on to your friends or

2 s) O! K7 _6 q$ r8 n3 x7 u2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
9 ?# F6 e% M# h1 `
As you can see, I took choice number 1.
, D. F9 x& m: k9 E! q5 K3 m; U* E"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

7 a0 {; o& _1 Q1 U) EThere is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history.
' a: \) r- p% |( U
' f4 H9 S8 N; M8 q, [6 [Tomorrow is mystery.
/ O5 N( Z) M4 P) u, {5 r
Today is a gift.

' q" o2 [9 L; A" e$ o. x4 i; eIt's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

; n6 C: o) y0 B+ ?" E+ ~If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

高桥

Yesterday is history.
- e. O$ y. G5 V2 p* I
0 Q# ?1 d+ W: B. G; mTomorrow is mystery.
* A' L2 H, R8 G# v8 ]4 |
- Q/ d/ `0 k! K1 A& M* jToday is a gift.