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. God puts us all in
each other's lives to impact one another in some
way. Look for the good in others.