The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1) Read Online Free PDF

it,” he said. “What’s next?”
    Miss Hastings brought in the box and set it on the table next to me. I took out the next videotape, and Miss Hastings started the VCR. Once again Red Stevens appeared and began to speak.
    “Jason, as you heard me tell Mr. Hamilton at your first meeting, he is quite simply my best friend. Friend is a word that is thrown around far too easily by people who don’t know the meaning of it. Today, people call everyone they know their friend. Young man, you’re lucky if you live as long as I have and can count your real friends on the fingers of both hands.
    “I am now going to share a story with you, Jason, that I promised I would never tell as long as I lived. Since you are watching this after my death, and in the presence of the one whom I promised, I feel comfortable sharing it. As you know, I lived past my seventy-fifth birthday and enjoyed what to most people was a long and healthy life. But this was not always a sure thing.
    “I remember when I had just turned thirty-eight years old and was hospitalized with an extreme fever. The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong with me, so they brought in every specialist from across the country. Finally, I was diagnosed as having a rare kidney disease which was incurable. The only hope they gave me was a new procedure called a kidney transplant.
    “You’ve got to realize that this was unheard of at that time, and donors were not readily available as they are today. I called Mr. Hamilton, who has always acted as my attorney, and told him we would need to start a nationwide search to find me a kidney. I was very frightened because the specialist had told me that without the transplant I might not have more than a few weeks. You can imagine my relief when Mr. Hamilton called me two days later and told me he had located a kidney on the East Coast.
    “Well, as I’m sure you can guess, the operation was a success and gave me back over half of my adult life. What I’m sure you couldn’t guess, and what no one has known until now, is that the kidney that Mr. Hamilton found was his own.”
    Red paused on the videotape to take a drink of water, and young Jason Stevens stared at me in disbelief. On the big screen, Red continued. “There’s only one way in the world to explain something like that, and it’s called friendship. Now, Jason, I know you think you have a lot of friends. But the reality is, you have a lot of people who simply want your money or the things it will buy. Except for your time with Gus Caldwell, you’ve never worked a day in your life nor done anything I would call productive. But you have been the life of the party and an easy touch for a lot of weak hangers-on you casually call friends.
    “During the next thirty days, I want you to spend a lot of time thinking and observing. I want you to find what you feel to be the principles that underlie true friendship, and I want you to be able to report to Mr. Hamilton an example of true friendship that demonstrates your principles. Jason, you will never do anything in your life that will bring more quality to your existence than growing to understand and nurture friendship.”
    The videotape ended, and Jason seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, he blurted out, “I don’t understand. I mean—”
    I interrupted him. “I know you don’t understand. That’s the whole point. I only hope that you will remember your great-uncle’s words and, for your sake, by the end of the month you are at least beginning to understand. I will look forward to your report.”
    I walked out of the conference room, leaving young Jason Stevens to his assignment.
     
    On the last day of the month, Miss Hastings called into my office to let me know that Jason had set up an appointment and would be arriving within the hour. I sat back and thought about my lifelong friend, Red Stevens. I wasn’t sure how you could teach someone the depth to which a friendship could grow, especially if the person had