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My Friend Kyle
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.
Look for God in others.
You now have two choices, you can:
1) Pass this on to your friends or
2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.
As you can see, I took choice number ...
1. "Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings
have trouble remembering how to fly." There is no beginning or end..
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift.
It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care.
Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you,
then you'll know you have a circle of friends.