One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a
kid from my class was talking 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 the following 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
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 who 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 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.
This is a story in circulation via e-mail. Somewhat
sentimental, there is nevertheless in it a surer psychic element which makes it
softly and quietly appealing. ~ RYD