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 Joko. 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 friend
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
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 Joko, the more I liked him. And my friends
thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Joko with the huge
stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Damn 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, Joko and I
became bestfriends.
When
we were seniors, we began to think about college.Joko 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.Joko 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 Joko. 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
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
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar