KYLE'S STORY
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 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 a life." 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 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, "Darn 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 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 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 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 under estimate 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.
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Email: Bonesy78@aol.com