Inspiration is often fronted with tears. You will have a few tears by the end of this story but you will also swell with pride at the children of this human race. They are not always the mean little monsters we so often hear about. In fact -- they are most often just like the children in this story.
Shay!
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 toward 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 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 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.
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