The Day Of My Graduation
One day, when I was a
freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school.
His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books, and 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 right up to 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.
Then 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 a life.”
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, “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, 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 and 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.
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 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.
“Friends are angels who
lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”
