One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my 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 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, and as he crawled around
looking for his glasses, 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, but 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 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.
On 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 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
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.
- Author Unknown -
Copyright (c) by Rusti since 2002
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