[Jobs] [BlindBBS] This one made me think!, Should have sent the story with the responce

[Mark of Blind Ambitions Groups]

Good morning Judith,

Yes it is. I guess I needed to forward the attachment and not reply to
Sergio. For those who don't know the story, here it is. 


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 S hay 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 h e 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 r 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!   
"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to
forget."

block quote end 

-----Original Message-----
From: jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Judith Bron
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 9:08 AM
To: Jobs for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Jobs] [BlindBBS] This one made me think!

Is this the story of the young boy who got up to bat on a little league team
but was physicly impaired?  If I remember correctly he was suffering from
cancer and there were doubts that such a player could hit the ball much less
make it to first.  What shea has taught all of us is that all of us have the
ability to "hit" the ball regardless of what the world thinks of us with our
impairments.  Every day we hit the ball and with our own accomplishments we
make it to first and then make it to second.  And we keep plugging knowing
that making it to home is a far cry from what the world thinks we can
accomplish but we keep on hitting that ball and running the bases because
the loss of our eyesight has made us more ferocious fighters and given us
the drive that the world only reads about in fictitious books.  We are the
winners but when we become complacent with our lives we quickly become
losers, we have to keep slugging to keep our winning record.  Judith
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark of Blind Ambitions Groups" 
<mark.marvel at blindambitionsgroups.org>
To: "'Sergio Esparza'" <sergio8u at yahoo.com>
Cc: <blindambitionsgroups at yahoogroups.com>; <blindlikeme at yahoogroups.com>;
<philosophyofblindness at yahoogroups.com>; "'Jobs for the Blind'" 
<jobs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 7:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Jobs] [BlindBBS] This one made me think!


> Hello Sergio,
>
> I had not read the message when I sent the first reply. I received 
> this email on several occasions and I open it every time. I always get 
> a really good cry as I am truly doing right now. What I love about 
> this the most is that the game of life was played out in this little 
> ballpark and though Shae never got to experience this again, he got to 
> experience it. What saddens me is that many people would give someone 
> like Shae a chance in something that tomorrow might not matter. But in 
> life, most no one will give that same opportunity for a "Shae" a job. 
> This is why I do what I do. I would love to find out who that father 
> is and tell him how much Shae has changed my life and how I wish I 
> could see him here and not later. As one email I received last week 
> said, You will meet a lot of people in heaven that you never knew but 
> who wanted to meet you. Shae is one who I want to meet. He lets me 
> know that maybe there are bosses and managers who suddenly become the 
> pitcher and the right fielder and I just hope I can be that shortstop 
> that guides the Shae's of this world to thirds and finally home. Thank 
> you so much for sending this to me. I did not know that I needed a 
> good cry but I am happy for the tears that will now be shorting out my 
> keyboard. When you get that job, I want you to become that pitcher who 
> recognized that the other team had put winning aside . Be that 
> Shortstop who guided the Shae's to third base. Gather your co-workers 
> to be the crowd who chants Shae Shae Shae and then meet him at home 
> plate. You will care less about the paycheck that week and more about 
> the Win. Nobody lost that day. Both teams, won. Both Routing Sections 
> won and Shae won the hearts of everyone involved in the game.
> Last
> of All, I won a love for Shae  and all the people like Shae, who if 
> given a little chance and little bit of guidance, they too, can come 
> home with a smile on their face and a sense of pride, no matter what 
> they do all day.
>
> Thanks,


Mark Marvel
President
Blind Ambitions Groups
1222 Commerce Street
Suite 406
Dallas, TX 75202
Toll-free: (888) 760-9252
Phone: (214) 760-9252
Fax: (214) 760-9254
Mobile: (214) 796-5868
Email: mark.marvel at blindambitionsgroups.org
Website: www.blindambitionsgroups.org
"We may have lost our sight but we have not lost our VISION"

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