Friends, Nerds, Suicide, and Greg Gilmore

“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend.”
— Albert Camus

Good morning, how are you? I’m fine, thank you for asking.  I had a busy day yesterday, a good day to wind down the week.  It’s Saturday morning; I will take it easy today; we have a concert tonight, an AC / DC cover band.  I’m a fan of the cover band; they seem more interested in putting on a great show than the originals.

Occasionally I’ll get something from a friend and think that would be grand rue for my morning soup.  Yesterday my friend Jim sent me a bowl of fantastic soup, and so today I will share his soup.  I don’t know the author, so sorry, I would love to give you credit; if you know the author, please share their name; this is a beautiful reminder that a simple act can change a life.

When I was a freshman in high school, I saw a 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 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 many 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 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 genuine 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 my friends thought the same of him.  So finally, Monday morning came, and Kyle was with the massive stack of books again. 

I stopped him and said, ‘Boy, you will 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 that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. 

He would 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. On graduation day, I saw Kyle.  He looked great. 

He was one of those guys that found himself during high school. He filled out and 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 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 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 carried his stuff home.  He looked hard at me and gave me a slight 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 worse. 
God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another somehow. 

Look for God in others. 

You now have two choices; you can: 
1) Pass this on to your friends or    
2) Delete it and act like it didn’t touch your heart.    
As you can see, I took choice number 1. 
  
‘Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.’  There is no beginning or end. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. 
Today is a gift. It’s National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. 
If it comes back to you, then you’ll know you have a circle of friends. 

If you could do me one favor, tag a friend you would like to know how much they mean to you. My best friend is Greg Gilmore, I almost lost him a few years ago, but he’s back better than ever, helping change the lives of others with addiction issues. I love you, buddy! I’m so proud of the man you have become and your impact on the world.

“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend.”
— Albert Camus