Two Choices

2010-08-06 by

What would you do? Would 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 Chush , 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, Shaya, 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 Shaya, 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:

Shaya and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shaya 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 Shaya 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..’

Shaya 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, shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, shaya 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, shaya’s team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shaya was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shaya bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shaya stepped up to the Plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shaya’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya 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. Shaya 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, ‘Shaya, run to first!

Run to first!’

Never in his life had Shaya 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, Shaya awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shaya 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.

Shaya ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, ‘Shaya, Shaya, Shaya, all the Way Shaya’

Shaya 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!

Shaya, run to third!’

As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shaya, run home! Run home!’

Shaya 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’.

Shaya 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!

For more inspiring stories like this, please read Rabbi Pesach Krohn’s book, Echoes of the Maggid .

Courtesy of Thomas Forsyth in Florida
Prosperity Accounting & Consulting, Inc.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomforsythpacinc

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Your Best Investment

2009-10-16 by

I ran into a stranger as he passed by.

Oh excuse me please” was my reply.

He said, “Please excuse me too;

I wasn’t watching for you.”

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said good-bye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal.
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God’s still small voice came to me and said,
“While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
but the children you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You’ll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.”

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed.
“Wake up, little one, wake up,” I said.

“Are these the flowers you picked for me?”
He smiled, “I found ‘em, out by the tree.

I picked ‘em because they’re pretty like you.
I knew you’d like ‘em, especially the blue.”

I said, “Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted today,
I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.”

He said, “Oh, Mom, that’s okay.
I love you anyway.”

I said, “Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.”

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don’t you think?

So what is behind the story?
Do you know what the word “FAMILY” means?

FAMILY = ( F )ATHER ( A )ND ( M )OTHER ( I ) ( L )OVE ( Y )OU

Courtesy of the old I-HelpDesk & WebReview – October 16, 2003 – and my cousin in Israel

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What's the Difference?

2009-10-09 by

What’s the difference between a girlfriend and a wife?
45 lb.

What’s the difference between a boyfriend and a husband?
45 minutes.

What’s the difference between a new husband and a new dog?
After a year, the dog is still excited to see you.

What’s the difference between a Southern zoo, and a Northern zoo?
A Southern zoo has a description of the animal on the front of the cage, along with a recipe

What’s the difference between a Northern fairy tale and a Southern fairy tale?
A Northern fairy tale begins “Once upon a time.” A Southern fairy tale begins ”’Y’all ain’t gonna believe this.”

What’s the best form of birth control after 50?
Nudity.

Courtesy of the old I-HelpDesk & WebReview – October 9, 2002

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General Eisenhower Warned Us

2009-10-09 by

General Eisenhower Warned Us

It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect:

‘Get it all on record now – get the films – get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened’

This week, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it ‘offends’ the Muslim population, which claims it never occurred. It is not removed as yet.. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the,6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, and 1,900 Catholic priests who were ‘murdered, raped, burned, starved, beat, experimented on and humiliated’ while the German people looked the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iran , among others, claiming the Holocaust to be ‘a myth,’ it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.

This e-mail is intended to reach 400 million people! Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the world.

How many years will it be before the attack on the World Trade Center

‘NEVER HAPPENED’

because it offends some other radical in in the U.S. who claims it never happened?

Do not just delete this message; it will take only a minute to pass this along.

FREEDOM ISN’T FREE…SOMEONE HAD TO PAY FOR IT
If you can read this…thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English…..thank a veteran.

Courtesy of Blakely Sanford, EA of San Diego

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Perfect Attendance

2009-06-05 by

On June 2, 1925, New York Yankees manager Miller Huggins replaced first baseman Wally Pipp with young Lou Gehrig, the pride of Columbia University. Gehrig would go on to play in every Yankee game, every season through April 30, 1939. His record of 2130 consecutive games, played through illness, injury, and even bone fractures, would remain untouched until Cal Ripkin’s monumental career mark surpassed him in 1995. In 1939, Lou Gehrig was found to have been stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known ever after as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.”

In December of 1939, in a special election, Gehrig was unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame at the age of 36, the youngest player ever elected. He passed away on June 2, 1941, the anniversary of the beginning of his remarkable streak.

From his speech on July 4, 1939, “Lou Gehrig Day,” at Yankee Stadium:

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

“Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.

“When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift — that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies — that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body — it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed — that’s the finest I know.

“So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”
— Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939

Courtesy of Barry L. Pinsky, CFP®, ChFC, CLU in Encino, CA

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