THE STORY OF KELVIN AND KYLE
Inspirational and Motivating Story
One day, when Kelvin was a freshman in high school, he saw a kid from his class walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books.
Kelvin thought to himself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."
Kelvin had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so he shrugged his shoulders and went on. As he was walking, he saw a bunch of kids running toward Kyle. 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 Kelvin saw them land in the grass about ten feet from Kyle. He looked up, and he saw this terrible sadness in Kyle's eyes.
His heart went out to him. So he jogged over to him, and as Kyle crawled around looking for his glasses, Kelvin saw a tear in his eye.
As he handed him his glasses, he said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."
Kyle looked at him and said, "Hey thanks!"
There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
Kelvin helped him pick up his books and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near him, so Kelvin asked him why he had never seen him before. Kyle said he had gone to private school before now. Kelvin would have never hung out with a private school kid before, but they talked all the way home, and Kelvin carried his books.
Kyle turned out to be a pretty cool kid. Kelvin asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with him and his friends. Kyle said yes.
They hung out all weekend, and the more he got to know Kyle, the more he liked him. And Kelvin friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
Kelvin stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!"
Kyle just laughed and handed him half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and Kelvin became best friends. When they were seniors, they began to think about college.
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and Kelvin was going to Duke. Kelvin knew that they would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. Kyle was going to be a doctor,
and Kelvin was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of their class. Kelvin teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. Kelvin was so glad it wasn't him having to get up there and speak.
On graduation day, Kelvin 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 Kelvin and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes Kelvin was jealous. Today was one of those days. Kelvin could see that Kyle was nervous about his speech, so he smacked him on the back and said, "Hey,
big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at Kelvin with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
"Thanks," Kyle said.
As Kyle 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."
Kelvin just looked at his friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day they 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 Kelvin and gave him a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
Kelvin heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told them all about his weakest moment. Kelvin saw Kyle's Mom and Dad looking at him and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did he realize its depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture, you can change a person's life.
Happy Sunday to you all.
