Sunday, November 02, 2008

Two Choices.

Post 529 ~ ~ ~ Monday, 3rd November, 2008.

Hi Everyone ~~ I hope all is well with you and your loved ones and that you happy. I am fine and
wondering when and if Peter and Warren will arrive today. They could, but also have made some stops on the way. Time will tell. I am slowly learning not to look at the back security door for those two little faces.
As the item today is a long one, I will get straight to it.

It is a really nice story, sent to me by my good friend Linda L. Thanks so much Linda. I do not know
a lot about baseball, but the story is inspirational. The title" Two Choices" were to pass it on or delete it.


At a fund raising 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 story.

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 were playing baseball . , "Do you think they'd 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 was in the eighth inning.
I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him into 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 to 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 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 fist 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 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 batsman'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 all 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 !!

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

May your day be a Shay Day.
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A couple of jokes from my good friend Barbara arrived today. I have posted them before but worth a re-run. Thank you Barbara.

A woman goes to her doctor for her yearly physical. The nurse starts with certain basic items.

"How much do you weigh?" she asks. "115", she says. The nurse puts her on the scale. Her weight 14o.

The nurse asks her height?" "5 ft 8'" she says. The nurse checks and sees that she is only 5'5".

She then takes her blood pressure and tells the woman it is very high.

"Of course it's high!" she screams. "When I came in here I was tall and slender. Now I'm short and fat."
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Flour and Water. How come when you mix water and flour together, you get glue? And then you add eggs and sugar . . . .and you get cake? Where did the glue go?

NEED AN ANSWER?
You know darned well where it went. That's what makes the cake stick to your butt.
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The $1.99 Special.

We went to breakfast at a restaurant where the "senior's special" was two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for $1.99.
"Sounds good," my wife said, "But I don't want the eggs."

"Then, I'll have to charge you two dollars and forty-nine cents because you are ordering a la carte," the waitress warned her.

"You mean I'd have to pay for not taking the eggs?" my wife asked increduously.
"YES," said the waitress.

"I'll take the special then, my wife said.
"How do you want your eggs?" asked the waitress.

"Raw and in the shell," my wife replied.
She took the two eggs home and baked a cake.

DON'T MESS WITH SENIORS !!! We've been around the block more than once!!
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I have a few more "You Just Can't Fix Stupid." s that Linda L sent. You are featuring well in this post
my friend. Thank you once again.

Several years ago, we had an Intern
who was none too swift. One day, she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, "I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?"

"Just use copier machine paper," the secretary told her.
With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photo-copier and proceeded to make five "blank" copies.
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I was in a car dealership a while ago, when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair and the whole thing generally looked like an extra in "Twister".

I asked the manager what had happened. He told me that the driver had set the 'cruise control' and then
went in the back to make a sandwich.
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My neighbor works in the operations department in the central office of a large bank. Employees in the field call him when they have problems with their computers.

One night he got a call from a woman in one of the branch banks who had this question : "I've got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire downtown?"
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Police in Radner, Pa. interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photo-copy machine. The message 'He's lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth.

Believing the 'lie detector' was working, the suspect confessed.
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A mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid was eating ants.

The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and it should be fine.

The mother says, " I just gave him some ant killer. . . . ."
Dispatcher : Rush him to the emergency room.
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Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid and remember - these people can and do vote.
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Well that is enough for this post. I hope you found something of interest here. Take great care of yourselves and each other. Share a smile with someone who hasn't got one. Love and best wishes to
you all. Cheers, Merle.

Post 529 ~ ~ ~ Monday, 3rd November, 2008.
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11 comments:

Gwen said...

Hi Dear Merle.
Some great jokes,needed a laugh .
'The Two Choices', what a beautiful
story.
My knee hasn't been too bad,but I'm
going in on the 19th of this month
for a Epidural steroid Injection.
So I'm hoping this gives me some
pain relief.
Stay Well Merle and thanks for the visit.xoxo

Gwen said...

Hi Dear Merle.
Some great jokes,needed a laugh .
'The Two Choices', what a beautiful
story.
My knee hasn't been too bad,but I'm
going in on the 19th of this month
for a Epidural steroid Injection.
So I'm hoping this gives me some
pain relief.
Stay Well Merle and thanks for the visit.xoxo

Dave said...

While I had read the "Shay" story many times Merle, it still makes me cry even today... *S*

Gigi Ann said...

Hi Merle,

The story "Two Choices" about the little boy Shay was a teary eyed sweet story. Sometimes I think children set a better example of showing acts of kindness then adults. They showed that winning wasn't what brings happiness, but giving is the key to happiness. And what a wonderful moment of happiness they gave Shay and his family.

And as always your jokes made me laugh and chuckle.

Have a great week and hope your family arrives and enjoy your visit with them.

audrey` said...

Hi Merle!!!

I'm so very happy to meet you on Facebook just now =)))
Welcome to the fun =D

"Two Choices" brought a tear or two to my eyes. It's so touching.

Take care.

See you on Facebook too =D

Patty said...

Dear Merle,
Loved the story of Shay. Yes, you will miss those two little faces wanting in and out of your house.

Have a great week.
Love,
Patty

Rosezilla (Tracie Walker) said...

Wow, I just treated myself to catching up to on all your posts that I'd missed. Lots of laughs! And tears too... the little boy playing baseball for instance. I finally got to post the award you so kindly gave me. And I have one for you, too!

Anonymous said...

Merle it is always a pleasure to come here and to fill my heart with laughter and goodness.
Thank you for the chuckles, it's been a long day and you have certaily made my eveing a chucklesome one! xxxx

Bear Naked said...

Boy is it true about the cake sticking like glue to my butt.
Thanks for the laughs.

Bear((( )))

linda may said...

G'Day,
Cake sure sticks to me too Merle.
Thank you for the heart, it is nice and I shared it :)
Lots of comings and goings at your house eh. Enjoy the visit with your brudda.

Jim said...

Hi Merle -- That Shay story is sad but yes, we need more Shay days.
Are you sure a blonde wasn't driving that RV?
Finally, did Warren and Peter get there? I surely hope so.
..