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,
"Darn 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 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 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.