A Story About Friendship
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 the
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 said, Those guys are jerks. They really should be
punished. 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 really gonna
build some serious muscles with this pile of books every day! 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 themselves during high school. He had 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 day. 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. Our
parents, our teachers, our siblings, maybe a coach but mostly our
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
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. As you can see, Friends are
angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble
remembering how to fly.
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