A Blog For Everyone

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 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. !