I met my best friend Jacob when we were high school freshmen. Others called him ‘Jake’, but he will always be Jacob to me.

We met in October in a random way. He was walking home from school carrying a huge stack of books. Some cruel sophomores purposely ran into him and knocked all of his books and his glasses to the ground.

Walking behind, I felt sorry for him. I helped him pick up his books, “Don’t worry about those jerks.”  He fumbled with his glasses. His skinny hands trembled.

We walked home together and learned that we lived just one block from each other. On the way, I invited him over, and we ended up hanging out that weekend with some of my other friends. That was the beginning of an incredible friendship. I still can’t believe the impact our friendship has had on my life.

You see Jacob might have started out as a lean and shy kid, but he actually became the most respected person in our class. In spite of his glasses, and his skinny body, he worked out and got in great shape.  He became more confident and enjoyed more dates than most of us. His hard work paid off and the Principal awarded him Valedictorian.  

I remember teasing him as he put the final touches on his speech, “You will do just fine nerd boy.”

We will remember that speech forever. Jacob thanked all of the teachers, the administrators and all of our class. He retold the story of the day we met four years prior as he carried the load of books home from school. “You wonder why I was carrying all of my books home?” He cleared his throat, “Because I didn’t want to burden my mom to have to come to school and get them out of my locker.  Because . . . that afternoon; I planned to take my life. I no longer had a reason to live. The pain was too intense.” He looked at me and publicly thanked me for my friendship. He told everyone how I had stopped to help, “It made the difference between life and death.”

My eyes began to water.

With the steeliest resolve, Jacob turned to the rest of our class and said, “Let’s make sure we become people who take the time to lift up others when they are down or hurting.”