Friday, September 08, 2006

You Can Make an IMPACT

A good friend of mine sent me this post. I thought I should share it with you


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.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 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

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.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so gl ad 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 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 lockerso 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.

22 comments:

Balaji said...

Nice...I think this story was featured in Chickensoup for your soul series. You can search for the same in Internet.

Lil Mizfit said...

wow!...i'm truely inspired.

The Visitor said...

There are those who can only look at the bright side of things and inspire!
Thanks G' ma

Nee said...

Nice story HG.

Itchingtowrite said...

these story brought tears to my eyes when i had 1st read it- esp the part in which he is clearing teh lockers so that his mom wud not hav to do it.. apart from the other parts of course

Artnavy said...

A newly wed friend was having trouble adjusting at her new place. I happend to be around and listened. No advice at all. She later told me she had been contemplating ending her marriage.

Prasanna Parameswaran said...

So true preeta! The power of your actions are truly so great that it can do wonders Thanks for sharing this post

Hip Grandma said...

balaji:Chicken soup series are my favorites and I've read a good many.I may have missed this one.In fact my writings seem to be inspired a bit by them.

mizfit:Thanks!

the visitor:A look at the morning newspaper is enough to put us off.Let blogging inspire people and let us do our bit towards it.

nee:thanks nee.

ITW:yeah1 a truly touching one.

artnavy:sometimes just being with a person in trouble is enough to soothe her/him.you don't need a language to say 'I understand'.

indianangel:we sometimes don't understand the power of the mind.I'm currently reading a book 'The Psychic and the Rabbi' and I'm amazed at the message it has for mankind.

archana:That's why I couldn't keep it to myself.

Sree said...

Yup.. This one has really made me get senti first time around when I read it. It is soo true, at times when we are down and out and there seems to be no hope, some simple kind gesture from the most unexpected corner makes a lot of impact without being too apparent..

starry said...

That was an inspiring post. true never underestimate a kind action even if it is a small one.

passerby55 said...

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way ...

100% true ...

when u realise it, its not merely an impact, "A DOUBLE IMPACT" indeed.

Hip Grandma said...

sush:you won't believe it when I say that I've been helped by the most unexpected source when I thought all was lost.

Lalitha:very true.Each little action is important.

passerby55:many a time we don't even relize the impact made by us.

passerby55 said...

Preeta, had been thinking on this post, this came across my mind.

many atimes the people who have, had great impact on our life are not the wealthiest or intelligent; they are the plain, simple people who care...

Hip Grandma said...

passerby55: you are right passerby.people who make an impact are not necessarily the ones wealthy or intelligent.They are simple people who have a large heart.

di.di said...

Dear Grandma,
Received the same email few times already... and sincerely, i would love to be like him... you know, able to change ppl in a good way, ofcoz without trying so hard..

p/s:I wish my grandma is still with us...

Hip Grandma said...

They say that one cannot choose a relative.But a friend is chosen.This story says that even friendship can be God's gift to us just like our parents.

drama diva:welcome here.We would all do well to be like him!

hillgrandmom said...

very inspiring! My prayer is that before I die, I should have touched at least someone's life in this way.

Kalpana said...

An inspiring one...

Hip Grandma said...

mahadevan:They say that one cannot choose a relative.But a friend is chosen.This story says that even friendship can be God's gift to us just like our parents.
hillg'mom:me too hillg'mom.

kalpana:welcome here.Glad you liked it.

Usha said...

Had read this before. But loved it again this time and shed a few tears. Some things can never be too much. We need constant reminders of these.

The Visitor said...

very inspiring! My prayer is that before I die, I should have touched at least someone's life in this way.

G'ma - I'm sure that in your life you have already made a difference to quite a few lives!

Hip Grandma said...

Usha:you are right.one never tires of these.Never evr!

the visitor:i hope I have.