Story Of The Week – The Power Of Friendship

Story Of The Week

The Power of Friendship

 by Eddie McMath

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a skinny kid from my class 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, sports, etc.), and I couldn’t relate. 

As I got closer, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and pushing him so hard that he fell in the dirt.  His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.  As they ran off, he looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.  My heart went out to him.

I ran over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, 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, “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.  It turned out that 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, but we talked all the way home, and I helped carry his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid, and I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with my friends and me.  He said yes, and we hung out all weekend.  The more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him.  My friends thought the same of him. 

When Monday morning came, there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.  I stopped him and said, “you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books every day.”  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 we would always be friends, and 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, and I teased him all the time about being a nerd.  He had to prepare a speech for graduation and I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak

On graduation day, he looked great.  He was one of those guys who had really found himself during high school.  He had muscles everywhere, but still wore glasses.  However, he had more dates than me, and all the girls loved him!  Sometimes I was jealous, and Graduation Day was one of those days.

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 and I’ll tell you why.”

I looked at Kyle with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met and how he had planned to kill himself over the weekend because he was tired of being bullied at school.  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 Eddie 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 and expect for God to use you, anywhere…anyhow.

Photograph: “Together” by Zuerichs Strassen