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
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
others
lives
to
impact
one
another
in
some
way.
Look
for
God
in
others.
