[MedEd]

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 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. Shay's father
approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play.

The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he took matters into
his own hands 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."

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
outfield.

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, 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 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 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 took the ball and turned and threw the ball on a high
arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman.

Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!"

Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down
the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!"

By the time Shay rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag,! but he
understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the ball high
and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled
the bases toward home.

Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in
the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams 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."

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, and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

You now have two choices:
1. Delete this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about.
You already know the choice I opted for.

Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have
trouble remembering how to fly.