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 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 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 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 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.

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 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. 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. 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 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 all 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 it's 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.

~Author unknown

Friends, you and me....you brought another friend....
and then there were 3. We started our group.... our circle of friends....and like that circle.... there is no beginning or end.

"It's going to be a long hard drag, but we'll make it."
~Janis Joplin

Are there any animals that behave like adolescents?

First let's acknowledge that the application of such expressions as slothful and piggish to teenagers in no way
implies that these metaphorically abused animals have
themselves nothing better to do on a Saturday night than
drive around aimlessly, dripping pizza sauce on their jeans.

That doesn't mean, though, that we are necessarily the only
species designated by nature to suffer adolescent antics.
While we have no record of rhesus monkeys asking for the car keys or maxing out their parents' plastic at the mall, they do seem to experience a teenager-like period. At least the males do. Upon attaining puberty, they leave their troop to hang with other young males and, oh, do they party! Then, after sowing their wild oats, they rejoin a troop and settle down, ready to engage in adult monkey business.

Sound familiar?

Why do sailors wear bell-bottomed trousers? (answer below)

We know that the reason is not, "Because they're caught up in
60s nostalgia." Sailors got there first, and with them it was
never merely a matter of style.

It figures that any prominent feature of a military uniform
is there for its usefulness, and that's the case here. For
one thing, bell-bottoms make it easier to roll up one's pants
when swabbing the deck is the order of the day. Sailors have
been doing that since the beginning of history.

This style of pants-leg also facilitates getting the pants
off quickly. Wipe that grin off your face, we're talking
here about what happens if a sailor suddenly finds himself
overboard and needs to swim, free of encumbrances. We'll
discuss how sailors behave on shore leave some other time.