Lynn
01-09-2006, 02:37 AM
Got this from my brother tonight and it really touched me.
email:
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 a few boys
nodded approval, why not? So he took matters into his own
hands 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 were 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 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
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"
When 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.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
end of email
email:
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 a few boys
nodded approval, why not? So he took matters into his own
hands 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 were 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 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
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"
When 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.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
end of email