Wonderful Read.... Check It Out...

[shainhouse]

I received this in a forward...

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.

[Pootie Tang]

Good read and a good lesson, if we all thought before we acted this world would be a better place.