Simple Acts of Kindness and Caring

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 and my heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him 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 some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends and he said yes.

We hung out 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 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.

As such, 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.

On the big 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 pretty cool 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 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 it's 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 others lives to impact one another in some way. Look for good in others.

You have two choices:

1) Either you can take this story to heart and act upon this concept (or)

2) Ignore it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

Hopefully you will pick choice number 1 and make a difference in the lives of others both professionally and personally.

Hat Tip: My brother Lawrence passed this story on to me.

Comments

[Mike Mueller]

Wow. Tony I almost feel my comment isn't worthy. Wow! Thank you for sharing this. I am deeply touched.

[The Mortgage Cicerone]

Hi Mike - I actually thought this would be a story you would like. Isn't it a touching and powerful story?

[Howard]

Great story and great message. Kyle sounds like the type who absolutely did pay it forward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward

Kind of cool to think of how your choice to act may have facilitated a chain of similar unselfish actions.

Bravo!

[Phoenix Real Estate]

Praise God! The world would be so much better if everyone just gave a little more, whether it be their time, their skills or giving financially to the less fortunate. Great post!

[Bob Stewart]

Thank you for the uplifting message. Many people don't get the chance to hear/comprehend the results of their good deeds so it must have been very fulfilling to 'realize the depth' of that moment.

I'm going with choice #1 :)

[Summit NJ REALTOR]

Wow, what a story. It brought back memories of several people I knew back in high school who took their lives back then or soon afterwords. Such a loss for such small reasons in the long run.

[The Mortgage Cicerone]

Isn't it a powerful and enabling thing to know even the smallest acts can make the biggest difference. That's why no person, task or job is not important. My brother Lawrence emailed me this story and it moved me so much I knew it would do the same for others. Very touching lesson in life!

[Dont be sad]

Hey,

Thank you for sharing this post. I agree with the comments above- inspirational indeed. I hope we might all take choice number one touch those in our lives.

Kind regards,

Dont be sad

[Doug Quance]

A worthy winner of the Odysseus Medal.

One usually never knows of such a small act resulting in such a large reward.

It's especially heartwarming to learn of this one.

[Doug Quance]

Nice try.

Do you write any of your own material?

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/kyle.asp

[Brian Brady]

Doug,

Why would you ask something like that? Tony never represented this as his own material; he cited it as a "pass-on" from his brother from the very beginning.

[Doug Quance]

I stand corrected, Brian. But the "pass-on" from his brother was at the end... not the beginning.

[Jay Thompson]

The original hat tip said simply, "Hat Tip: My brother Lawrence". There was no mention of it being "passed on".

I don't think Tony intended for one second to pass this off as his own work. But the fact remains is is is copied verbatim, in its entirety, and not properly attributed (still).

[Athol Kay]

I don't think Tony intended to pass it off as his own writing. It isn't blindingly clear in the post until the final line that it isn't his, but something at least. Plus it is very clear in his Jan 30th comment that he didn't write it.

@ Jay - There is no way to attribute the post as despite being heart wrenching it is essentially an urban legend.