[Solved] Joke E-mails

Hi all

I was sent this the other day and it certainly got me thinking - it is very true in so many different ways and is a beautiful story - if you want to copy it and send it people you know feel free to.

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 fundraising dinner for a school that serves children
with learning disabilities, 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,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 hrown 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 all 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 teamwho 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 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 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.

You now have two choices:

1. Delete
2. Forward
May your day, be a Shay Day.

I hope this has touched you like it did me and really made me think would I been the same?

Mario