Please read! I know this is long, but you won't regret it in
the end :)
The Story of
Kyle
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 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, 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, but 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.
On 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 me 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 its depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small
gesture, you can change a person’s
life.
(not mine. still loved it though :) )
Does
anyone remember
watching these shows
when they were little?
Blues Clues, Little Bear,
Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Maisy, Miss Spider, Gullah Gullah
Island, Franklin, Lazy Town, Max and Ruby, Bob The Builder,
Sesame Street, Doug, Ebb and Flo, Little Bill, Roley Poley Oley,
Oswald, Toot and Puddle, Olivia,
etc.