Let's
see if you send it back. We all know or knew someone like this!!
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my
class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. 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.' 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. They 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. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him 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.' They really
should get lives. ' He looked at me and said, 'Hey thanks!' 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. 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. We talked all the way home, and I
carried some of his books.
He
turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a
little football with my friends 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.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.Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When
we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on
Georgetown and I was going to Duke. 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. Kyle was
valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me
having to get up there and speak Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked
great.
He
was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He
filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I
had and all the girls loved him.
Boy,
sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days. I could see that he
was nervous about his speech. 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. ' 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. 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. I am going to tell you a story.' I just
looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met.
He
had planned to kill himself over the weekend. 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.
He
looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. 'Thankfully, I was saved. My
friend saved me from doing the unspeakable..' I 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. Not until that moment did I realize
it's depth. Never underestimate the
power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's
life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each others lives
to
impact one another in some way. Look for Good in others. You now have two
choices, you can :
1)
Pass this on to your friends or
2)
Delete it and act like it
didn't touch your heart..
As
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.'
There
is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today
is a gift.
It's
National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this
to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
If
it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of
friends.
WHEN
YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER, YOU'RE REQUESTED TO SEND IT TO AT LEAST 10
PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE PERSON WHO
SENT
IT TO YOU
udaya51@yahoo.com.au
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