One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw that 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 the next

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 been going to a private school.

I had never hung out with a private school kid before. We

talked all the way home, and I helped him carry 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, "Damn 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 looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of

the first day we met. He revealed that he had planned to kill

himself that 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.