A Simple Gesture
Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed
the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the
books he was carrying along with two sweaters, a baseball
bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and
helped the boy pick up the scattered articles.
Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry the
burden. As they walked Mark discovered the boys name was
Bill, that he loved video games, baseball, and history, that
he was having a lot of trouble with his other subjects and
that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in
for a coke and to watch some TV. The afternoon passed
pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk,
then Mark went home.
They continued to see each other around school, had lunch
together once or twice. They ended up at the same High
school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally
the long awaited senior year came, and three weeks before
graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first
met. "Do you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things
from school that day?" asked Bill.
"You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to
leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my
mother's pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But
after we spent some time together I realized that if I had,
I would have missed that time and so many others that might
follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books for me
that day,you did a lot more. You saved my life!"
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this
story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or
remove, as the circumstances dictate. ~~
Thanks to the Prodigal Son