What would you do? Check out this true, touching story and would you made the same choice like the other boys?
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
(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!
We
all have thousands of opportunities every single day to make a
difference. 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? A wise man once said every society is judged by how
it treats its least fortunate.
Story submitted by Tina
