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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 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 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 other's lives to impact one another in
some way.
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