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Friendship...the greatest gift


RpTheHotrod

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Someone was giving a speech awhile back, so I thought I'd post it here.

 

 

 

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 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 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, "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, began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and 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 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 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 good in others.

 

Each day is a gift from God! Don't forget to say, "Thank you!"

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It is indeed a meaningful story. The theme of it is all too clear, yet still some of us will just read this and go "Humph." And some of us will read this, and still learn nothing from it.

 

People are watching you. Set an example.

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this reminds me of a damn great movie. Le Merveilleu Destin d'Amélie Poulin (also known as Amélie to the Anglophones)

 

its the story of a girl who decides to get involved in people's live. bring them happiness. she decided to do this when she discovered some old metal box in her apartment that belonged to the boy who lived there a long time ago. a personnal treasure chest full of memories. she decided to discover who this boy was and to give it to him. when the owner (no much older) of the box see its content again, his childhood memories flood back to him and on that moment he decides to change his life. to put to pass the differences between himself and his daughter so he can finally meet his grandson.

 

Damn good movie. I recommend it to all

 

dammit I'm doing it again. rambling. sorry :p

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I heard a similar story from my old band teacher, cept the 2 kids were his students.

 

The 2 had been friends for awhile, but they lost touch after highschool. Well the cooler kid ends up getting cancer and the doctor who treated him was his friend from highschool. Helped me out a bit when I felt like snappin some bitch's neck for talkin trash. Soul soothing, ya know.

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