It was many years ago that I landed at the hospital where my wife practiced, to meet the mother of a baby who had been born with a physical deformity. The mother was not there but the grandmother was. “Why?” she sobbed, “did God do this to my daughter. Hasn’t my daughter got enough troubles without having to be burdened with a physically handicapped child?”
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.
The father said, “I believe, that when a child like my Shay comes into the world, an opportunity is presented to all those around to realize their true human potential. People suddenly find they have something deep inside them, they find themselves being caring and compassionate.”
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 approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy said, “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 ninth inning, 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. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher 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. Instead, he 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!”
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 realized that there was something much bigger than just winning, and it was Shay who helped them realize what good, kindhearted children they really were.”
Now I understand one of the reasons why such children come into this world; they make us realize the goodness we have inside ourselves whenever we take the opportunity to help them...!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
