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 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. 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 all 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.