One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my
class 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 friend 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. 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.
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. 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, "Dim 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.
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 themselves during high school. He had more dates
than me and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I can 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
him or her. 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.