Save A life

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.”