Mellotronists

Subject:  We can all make a difference in someone's life.

What would you  do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line,
there isn't one.  Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the
same  choice?

At a fund raising 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!

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 hesitate. 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 in your address book who 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 thousand s 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.   





<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free 
email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at 
http://www.aol.com.