Two Choices

sweetspot

Two Choices
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, |5 U2 B$ X" L9 l> 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?
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> At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children,
% U( R' k! }6 i& x  T) X> the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be
8 Z7 Z  v; o- z9 s> forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated
4 z5 x8 r" y& p6 l6 [/ y" y8 A/ c  y> staff, he offered a question:
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> 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is
% O6 I# l" o$ H! ^8 Z> 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.
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8 @8 ^% W" g% Q; C  T& p> The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, physically
0 v0 j3 Q8 ^  K" i/ z. {  R> and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize
> true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people
* y8 _; G/ v2 i0 ?4 P> treat that child.'
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> Then he told the following story:
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> Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were
% ~1 c, ~5 s9 y7 M> 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
. D: M  F% ^3 ]* ?/ j> team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play,
, z# U3 k" o0 j0 x$ i> 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
9 L+ w) o' @. [> said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I
9 \+ ?  B, u$ M5 D' ]+ Q/ }> guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth
; q8 w$ w! m7 E$ T; j! F9 w4 |/ R> inning.'
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> Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a
! \+ R% m% U3 J0 o> 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
1 ^6 ~3 h- e5 d$ H! w> bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still
, ]+ M" [& W8 |2 m8 B& L> 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
( w+ |# X8 A% P: [3 H: ^4 B+ C. s> ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases
; E9 P' |+ U7 N- _4 `$ v9 T> loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be
% ^, T- j* r3 U1 H7 K9 J  N+ x6 c> next at bat.
>
1 Z0 t% I8 [- d* Y3 e! E* R& \) z> At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the
) {+ ~3 ]; |6 t' T> game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat Everyone knew that a hit was all
$ h" |4 E. E, T' |9 O> but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly,
6 n6 h1 v4 W. s* f3 b; t! ~> much less connect with the ball.
" U/ B- K7 |/ I& b' w> 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
; B. ^3 H& n; O, Z> 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
) }9 ?- }) z- K5 ]: y! \> 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.
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> 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.
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> Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out
) w3 u2 [# ]( W, {5 t! ~0 w> of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started
2 B6 A5 C# |9 ?> 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.
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> Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay
3 t8 G2 M+ S+ c% t, Q4 S7 S> 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
) H5 k5 ?8 m0 S+ A$ P* M/ A6 a> second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intention 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
, d; b9 J5 U5 b& G! _> circled the bases toward home.
>
> All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
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" ^& Y% d7 I+ S8 X0 t$ J0 i6 ^> 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!
% S& ^5 F% j9 Z) _/ M> Shay, run to third!'
>
* H! S3 a" t1 g- d* ~+ z1 L+ j> 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
% X/ w4 N. Z* |% \* q0 K> on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the
( i- E  D- e3 ?9 _) a2 G# E4 y> game for his team.
>
> 'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
' g! M  t; w: p6 @/ V> 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity
> into this world'.
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( t8 r+ s; q8 n; q1 a> Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
5 @$ N  l- d7 e" V> forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and
  w, \$ H! a: w  {( _& M, w> seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
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" G, K. \) @; H" h/ M1 G> 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.
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( V/ v5 x& `/ N% I2 G> If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're
7 Z2 r( |4 e) c- |' {3 E> 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
5 p  D9 H3 ]& n0 P8 f! w> 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
7 W) e; G( b# b> 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
6 r# t  {' J1 M> how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
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: O, y2 i( G3 N/ ]. I' f6 g> You now have two choices:
> 1. Delete
" S; m9 K3 Y$ @( z! p2 F> 2. Forward
>
, @8 U1 Y2 I3 k/ d9 X> May your day, be a Shay Day.