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, 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 my
friends and me. 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, 
"Boy, you are going to 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 came, and I saw Kyle.
He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found him 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 him or her. 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 entire 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 its 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 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." 
It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you really
care.

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: "Many people will walk in and out of 
your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart."
To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your
heart. Anger is only one letter short of danger. If someone betrays you once, 
it is his fault; if he betrays you twice, it is your fault. Great minds 
discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. He who loses money, 
loses much; He, who loses a friend, loses  much more; He, who loses faith, 
loses all.
Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old
people are works of art. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live 
long enough to
make them all yourself. Friends, you and me.... you brought another
friend.... and then there were 3. We started our group.... our circle of
friends.... and like that circle.... there is no beginning or end. Yesterday 
is history... 
Tomorrow's a mystery. Today is a gift.

It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you
care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If
it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

WHEN YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER, YOU'RE REQUESTED
TO SEND IT TO AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE PERSON 
WHO SENT IT TO YOU.