♥ A HEART TOUCHING STORY OF FRIENDSHIP ♥

 

 One day, when I was a freshman in
school, I saw a kid from my class walking
home from school.
His name was Arif. It looked like he was
carrying allof his books, and 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 right up to
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 thegrass about ten feet from him.
Then 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 a life.”
He looked at me and said,
“Hey thanks !” There was a big smile on
his face. Itwas 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 hungall weekend and the more I got
to know Arif, the more I liked him,
and my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was
Arif 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, Arif and
I became best friends.
When we were seniors, began to think
about college. Arif decided on George
town, 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.
Arif was valedictorian of our class and 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.
On Graduation Day,
I saw Arif. 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 was more famous 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 lookedat 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, may be 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 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. ALLAH puts us all
in each other’s lives to impact one
another in some way. Look for ALLAh in
others.
♥ “Friends are Angels who Lift us to Our
Feet when Our Wings have Trouble
Remembering how to Fly.” ♥