An E-mail from a Friend

[XLFD]

I received the following E-mail from a friend the other day.  It made me a little more appreciative of my friends, and the power of friendship.  Hopefully, you have true friends or serve as a true friend to someone else and receive inspiration from it as well.  Better yet, if that true friend happens to be a Valentine's Day sweetheart.  Share it with them, as I was implored to do by the E-mail.

 

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 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
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.

[Dave]

This email has been circulating for awhile, i've seen it from time to time. That said, its still a very nice message that is being said. Hard to say if its true or not, you never know with these sort of things but even if it was a fake, I think the message is still so positive that its well worth the read.

[masonco]

Dave it is a great reminder how caring can make a difference in a life and we do not know. I believe the opposite can also be true. We can hurt someone and not realize how we destroyed that person's life in more ways that we realize.

[XLFD]

Dave is right, in that I received it as one of those 'mail this to ten of your friends' in regards to National Friendship Week (which occurs in about 6 months!), so it has finally matriculated down to me.  And that it does make a good story, even if it is not 100% true.

Masonco also brings out a good corollary to this story of caring, in that through apathy or negative actions we can have the reverse effect on other's lives.  The above parable not only brought to my mind who has helped me, or who I have helped through difficult times, but also the times I might have made a difference... but didn't. 

[AQUAMAN]

Interesting story thread, I've just been sent this recently too, about the fourth time in 2 years now. It always pulls a heart string for me too, on both sides of the aisle.