I was walking back from high school, when I saw the new classmate walking back home. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all his books. “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must be a nerd,” I thought to myself.

A freshman, I had lined up parties and a football game with my friends for the weekend. I shrugged my shoulders and went my way. As I was walking by, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran right up to him knocking all the books out of his arms and tripped him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying to land in the grass about ten feet away.

When he looked up, I saw a terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye. I handed him his glasses and 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 had never interacted with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home as I carried his books.

He turned out to be a cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We were together through the 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 really going to build some serious muscle carrying this pile of books every day!”

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 to learn business having obtained sports scholarship. Kyle was the 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 people who had really found themselves 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 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 even 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 parents looking at me and smiling, that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Your one action can really change a person’s life, or motivate someone and friends are the most important part about your life. A friend does have a major impact on you. Many times, I have found myself being depressed and lonely. I don’t know if its hormones or just me. But a message from a friend instantly makes me forget about my depression and I’m all happy and cheerful again.

So, don’t judge people by their appearances, be kind to all and keep smiling and as someone once said, “Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”