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[RC] [Fwd: Shay Day] - Bruce Weary DC

I hope this is neither too long nor inappropriate to forward to Ridecamp. I had a hard time getting through it and it changed my outlook for today.  Bruce Weary

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Shay Day
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 22:31:52 -0800
From: "Clair E Mitchell" <eclairm29@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Clair E Mitchell" <eclairm29@xxxxxxxxxx>



Just wanted to add some good news to cyberspace..even if it is long.
 
Subject: 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 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 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 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 '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 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"

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
May your day, be a Shay Day,sunny today tomorrow &
always!









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