[lovely]

I was a freshman in high school, and one day I saw a kid from my class was walking home. It looked like he was carrying all 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 planned a pretty good weekend (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged and walked on.

When I went there, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his hands and kicked his legs from under him so he landed in the dirt. He lost his glasses and I saw they landed about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. I felt really sorry for him, so I ran over to him.
... ... ...
... As he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw tears in his eyes. When I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They should have had a beating!"
... ... ... ...
He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" It was a big smile on his face.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. It turned out he lived near me so I asked him why I had not 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 out all weekend and the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. My friends thought the same.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books. I stopped him and said,

For a type you are, you're going to build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next 3 years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think in high school, Kyle decided to go to high school general, and I was thinking Handel. I knew we would always be friends, and the miles would never be a problem. He wanted to be a doctor, and I thought the business and to concentrate on football. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him that he was a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it was not me having to get up and speak.

On 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 girls than me, and the girls loved him. Uh! Sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days. I could see he was nervous in connection with the speech he was holding. So I gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, "Hey, big guy, this is great!"

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled, "Thanks!" he said.

When he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began ...

- "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach, but most of all .... Your friends. I'm here to tell you that to be a friend to someone is the greatest gift you can give them. I'll tell you a story ...."

I 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 at school, so her mother would not have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked directly at me and gave me a small smile. - "Fortunately, and in gratitude, 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 father and mother looked at me with that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. - "With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or worse. We are all given to influence each other in some way. Look for the good in others!"