I got this article in a mail that got forwarded to me by a colleague..i usually dont read forwarded mails and delete them without opening but since it came from a person who doesn't forwards anything until it makes some true sense,i decided to read it..Maybe putting this up on my blog is not such a good idea or maybe it is, but i honestly feel that this is a story thats worthy of being told- so here you go
Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't
look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it
anyway. My question 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 (not expecting much) if Shay could
play. 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 and, with a
broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched
with 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 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, recognizing that the other team was 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 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. 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
first baseman's head, 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 run that far, but he
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 the
base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base,
the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy
on their team who now had his first chance to be the
hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to
the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood
the pitcher's intentions so 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 because the opposing
shortstop ran to help him by turning 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
the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay,
run home! 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. He 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 hesitate. 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 in your address book who 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 those opportunities 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......
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