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 part of the
burden. As they walked Mark discovered the boy’s
name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball
and history, and that he was having lots 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 television. 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, then both graduated from junior high
school. They ended up in 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. “Did you ever wonder why I was
carrying so many things home 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 mothers sleeping pills and I was
going home to commit suicide. But after we spent
some time together talking and laughing, I realized
that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that
time and so many others that might follow. So you
see, Mark, when you picked up those books that
day, you did a lot more, you saved my life.”

Posted via Blogaway