class 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
friend 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, and as he
crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye.
I handed him his glasses and 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. 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 coming to this school.
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We
talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be
a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on
Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung 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, "Damn 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 arrived - I saw Kyle and 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 me
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 stared at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of 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 its 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 other's lives to impact one another in some way.
Look for God in others.
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have
trouble remembering how to fly."
-Author unknown
No comments:
Post a Comment