06-02-2009, 06:13 AM
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 children with learning disabilities, 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, who was mentally and physically disabled 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:
< br> Shay and I had walked past a park where some
boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll
let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like
Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my 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.
I 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. I watched with a
small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my
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 I 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.
B y 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 me so happy, and coming home and seeing his
Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
AND NOW A
LITTLE FOOT NOTE 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.
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 children with learning disabilities, 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, who was mentally and physically disabled 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:
< br> Shay and I had walked past a park where some
boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll
let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like
Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my 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.
I 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. I watched with a
small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my
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 I 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.
B y 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 me so happy, and coming home and seeing his
Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
AND NOW A
LITTLE FOOT NOTE 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.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
A Light in your Darkness...always there...and burning...
A Light in your Darkness...always there...and burning...
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