第3章 友谊赞歌AStoryaboutFriendship
佚名/Anonymous
上高一时的一天，我在放学路上看到了同班的一个男孩，名叫凯尔。他好像把所有的书都带上了。我心想：“谁会在周末把书都带回家啊？他一定是个书呆子。”我的周末已经有了计划（参加聚会，明天下午和朋友去踢足球），因此我耸耸肩，继续往前走。
正走着，我看到一帮孩子朝他跑去。他们冲过去打掉凯尔怀中的书，并将他绊倒在泥地上，眼镜也飞了出去，落在离他约10英尺远的草地上。他扬起脸朝上看时，我看到了他眼中的悲哀。我有些同情他，于是跑到他身边。当时，他正趴着找眼镜，我看到他的眼中噙着泪水。我把眼镜递给他，说：“他们简直无聊透顶，真应该受到惩罚。”他看着我说：“嗨，谢谢！”然后很灿烂地笑了。那个笑容展现了真正的感激之情。
我帮他捡起书，问他住在哪里。原来他跟我住得很近，于是我问为什么从未见过他。他说他以前在一家私立学校上学。在这之前，我是从来不与私立学校的孩子打交道的。我帮他抱着一些书，和他聊了一路。他很帅，很酷。我问他是否愿意和我们一起踢足球，他同意了。于是我们玩了一个周末。而且我对凯尔有了更深的了解，也更喜欢他了，我的朋友们也有同感。
星期一的早上，他又抱着那一大堆书。我挡住他，说：“好家伙，你真要每天抱着这些书锻炼肌肉啊！”他只是微微一笑，把半摞书递给我。接下来的四年中，我们成了最好的朋友。临毕业时，我们开始考虑上大学的事。凯尔决定上乔治敦大学，而我准备去杜克大学。我知道距离不是问题，我们永远都是朋友。他想当一名医生，而我获得了橄榄球奖学金，准备去学商务。
凯尔将代表我们班致告别辞。我一直取笑他是个书呆子。他要为毕业典礼准备演讲稿，而我真开心自己不用上去演讲。毕业那天，我看到了凯尔，他简直帅呆了。在高中，他简直如鱼得水。他长大了，带着眼镜的样子看起来很棒。他的约会比我还多，所有的女孩子都喜欢他。好家伙，有时我还真嫉妒他，今天就是。看得出，他对演讲有些紧张，于是我拍拍他的背，说：“嗨，棒小伙，你会是最棒的！”他看着我笑了，神情中依然带着那种真诚的感激。“谢谢。”他说。
他准备演讲时，先清了清嗓子，然后开始了。“毕业之际，要感谢那些曾在我们艰难时伸出援手的人。他们是我们的父母、老师、兄弟姐妹，或者是某个辅导员，但大部分还是我们的朋友。在此，我想告诉在座的所有人，做某人真正的朋友是你给予他们的最好礼物。我想给大家讲一个故事。”我难以置信地看着我的朋友，听他讲起我们第一天认识的情形。他曾计划在那个周末后自杀。他讲他如何清空锁柜，将所有东西带回家，以便他的妈妈将来不必再清理。他努力地看着我，对我微微一笑。“感激的是，我得救了。我的朋友救了我，使我没做那种可怕的傻事。”
当这个帅气、受欢迎的男孩讲述了他最脆弱的时刻时，我听到人群中一片惊讶声。我看到他的父母在看我，并同样感激地对我微笑着。直到那一刻，我才真正意识到那个微笑的意义。永远不要低估你行为的力量。你不经意间的一个小举动也许会改变一个人的命运。无论福祸，上帝让我们介入彼此的生活，并以某种方式影响着对方。从他人的身上去寻找上帝的影子。正如你所知，“当我们的翅膀受伤不能飞翔时，朋友就是天使，会将我们扶起，让我们明白如何飞翔。
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 the 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，I saw tears in his eyes.As I handed him his glasses，I said，“Those guys are jerks.They really should be punished.”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 myfriends 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 friend，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 glad 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.Our parents，our teachers，our siblings，maybe a coach butmostly our 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 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.Look for God in others.As you can see，“Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”