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, and 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 mother's 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."
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