A Story of 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 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 a 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 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 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.
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