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 putti
ng 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 FOOTNOTE
TO THIS STORY:
We all have thousands of
opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'
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.
________________________
We
have received this story by e-mail from a friend and we believe it concerns
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with a translation into Russian in the hope that it will reach a wider
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The
MBP-Team