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Saturday, December 10, 2011

"One Small Gesture... 'Anonymous' (Truthbook)

"Everyday is Thanksgiving. One small gesture you may do for someone may change their lives forever..."

One Small Gesture

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 Mark. 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 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 Mark, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Mark 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, Mark and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Mark 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.

Mark 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 Mark. 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 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 God and the good  in others.

This blog was shared through  www.truthbook.com

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

8 comments:

James "Kimo" Rosen said...

my pleasure, glad you enjpoyed it, me too... Btw I am off to Panda where we ate lunch a few months back, too bad your not here we could do Panda together...

Rema Murphy said...

via facebook;"Wish I was there. Someday....."

Rema Murphy said...

via facebook;"So touching, Jim. Thanks for all YOUR sharing and uplifting words."

James "Kimo" Rosen (Me) said...

Rema-san, Just got home with honey glazed walnut shrimp, Kobari beef and Kung pao chicken! As they say in Hawaii, 'Ono grindz.' I buy next time...

Anonymous said...

via facebook, debbie Eayrs and Rema Murphy like this, along with me...

Me said...

‎'dgyli' (Deb, glad you liked it)

Douglas Dunn said...

via facebook;"Another excellent masterpiece of inspiration!
However, the story is not actually "anonymous."
It is from the book "Chicken Soup for the Soul," by Jack Canfield, filled with many inspirational true stories!"

James "Kimo" Rosen said...

Doug, the website truthbook.com had it listed as anonymous, Mahalos for letting me know it appeared in chicken soup.