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 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.
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