A story beyond incredible is this story. I read it and thought of the first time I met my best friend. Then, I asked myself who my nearest best friend today would be if it were not for the day I met my best friend. I miss her then, and I miss her now. Just one bit of courage can make a life worth living.
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 and 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 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, "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 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.
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This story was taken off the website:
http://www.angelfire.com/ks2/prides/index.html