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 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 alittle football  with my  friends   

 He said  yes.   

     We hung  out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle,  the

moreI liked him, and  myfriends  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 onGeorgetown 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 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 others 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.' 

 There is  no beginning or end.. Yesterday is  history.  

 Tomorrow  is a mystery.   

 Today is a  gift..   

Show your friends how  much you care.

Send this to everyone you  consider a FRIEND.