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Hi All,
Just read this and cried. We all relate to this
one. It was
forwarded by a bus driver who works at the Special School
in Hobart.
I chose to share this. What would you do? You make the
choice; don't look for a punch line. There isn't one.
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
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.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and
asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance
and, getting none, he took matters into his own hands 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."
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 outfield. 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.
Should they now potentially give up the chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit
was all but impossible, because 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 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 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 took the ball and turned and threw the ball on a high arc
to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never
in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered
down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" By the time
Shay rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could
have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the
ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him
deliriously circled the bases toward home. Shay reached
second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in
the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams 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 and to his."
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 sharing 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 make
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, and leave the world a little bit
colder in the process?
You now have two choices: 1.
Share With Family 2. Share With
Family and Friends . . . TY |
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