What would you do? You make the choice! Don't look for a punch line; There
isn't one! Read it anyway. My question to all of you is: Would you have
made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled children,
the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be
forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated
staff, he offered a question:
"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature
Does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as
other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where
is the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically
and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize
true human nature presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people
treat that child. "Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were
playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"
Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay
on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed
to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence
to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay
could play, not expecting much. The boy looked around for guidance and
said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning.
I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the
ninth inning."
Shay struggled over to the team's bench put on a team shirt with a broad
smile and his Father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart.
The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom
of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind
by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played
in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously
ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to
ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth
inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded,
the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next
at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win
the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit
was all but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat
properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing the
other team putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved
in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able
to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards
Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground
ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over, but the pitcher picked up the soft grounder
and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would
have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the head of the first baseman,
out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams
started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in
his life had Shay ever ran that far but made it to first base. He scampered
down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!"
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling
to make it to second base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base,
the right fielder had the ball, the smallest guy on their team, who had
a chance to be the hero for his team for the first time. He could have
thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the
pitcher's intentions and he too intentionally threw the ball high and far
over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as
the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"
Shay reached third base, the opposing shortstop ran to help him and turned
him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay,
run to third" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams and
those watching were on their feet were screaming, "Shay, run home!
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who
hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
That day, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity
into this world.
Shay didn't make it to another summer and died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making his Father so happy and coming home
and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes
through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending
messages about life choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude,
vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion
about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.
If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're
probably sorting out the people on your address list, that aren't the "appropriate"
ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this
believes that we all can makes a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities
every single day to help realize the "natural order of things."
So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with
a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we
pass up that opportunity to brighten the day of those with us the least
able, and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least
fortunate amongst them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
May your day, be a Shay Day, sunny today tomorrow & always!
