Here is something that one of my friends sent to me, and I wanted
to pass it
on to you. "Jerry McCoy wrote: 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 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
really going to 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. 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 couldn'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. 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." It's
National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care.
Eleanor
Roosevelt wrote: Many people will walk in and out of your life,
but only
true friends will leave footprints in your heart. To handle
yourself, use
your head; to handle others, use your heart. Anger is only
one letter
short
of danger. If someone betrays you once, it is his fault; if
he betrays you
twice, it is your fault. Great minds discuss ideas; Average
minds discuss
events; Small minds discuss people. He who loses money, loses
much; He, who
loses a friend, loses much more.
