Monday, 06 April 2009

• A Shay Day

  One of my best friends sent this to me. Grab a tissue, you will need it.

  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:
  
  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.
  
  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 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.

  I have never asked for a rec. I would appreciate one now. Thanks!

  • 5:36 PM
  • 197 Views
  • 14 eProps
  • 7 Comments