A story landed in my email inbox today - one of those that might touch you, but you don't really know if you should forward it - or if you do, you only forward it to those people you perceive to have 'big hearts'. For instance, many of my male friends might think I'd gone soft in the head if I sent it along to them, even though we're all about the same age, and all of us should be well over the need to act tough or devil-may-care. However, many of my friends have children, and will indeed understand and recognize the importance of this story in the same manner I do.
As a matter of fact (I'm terrible with asides), I can relate to the following story on another level. I wasn't a very good baseball player when I was very young, and when I first went out to play "organized" baseball, I had a coach who wouldn't put me in a game - until I finally left near the end of a game - in (what felt to me like) shame, with my Dad. The coach sent one of the other players after me when he saw me leaving - to tell me that he was planning on putting me in the game in the final inning. I said, "No, that's okay", and left anyway, knowing the coach was probably just embarrassed having my father witness his prejudice against me. I never went back to that team, but I had many successful years in organized Little League baseball in the years to follow. I never forgave that coach, however, nor would I ever credit him with making me a better ball player by treating me like crap. I learned how to play better baseball on my own, without any help from him. Worse yet, he was a schoolteacher by profession.
Okay, enough preamble.
Well, not quite. I also don't really care if the following story is true, because we need to be reminded every once in a while of the importance of love between human beings. I did not forward this story by email, by the way. Instead, I'll give you the opportunity to do so by copying it from this page, and sending it to all your friends, if you like.
For me - well - I just pray that my son and daughter will have the kind of beautiful souls and good sense to do what the boys in this story do. Here you are, in the same form I received it (...in other words, everything that follows was not written by yours truly, and I don't know the origin.):
--------------------------
Subject: Choices
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 challenges.
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!
FOOTNOTE:
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 its least fortunate amongst them.
May your day be a Shay Day
-------------------------------------------
