The following was forwarded to me by a very close friend who felt it was worth sharing. So do I.

Two Choices

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 children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that will 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 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 teammates.

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 me 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 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 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 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.

My oldest daughter, Rebecca and her daughter, Anika (all of six) were shopping at their local Walmart. Up the aisle about 40 or 50 feet ahead, a very large woman was bending over and inspecting some products on a low shelf.

And at the same time, a forklift was dropping a pallet of merchandise on the floor an aisle over, out of sight. After the forklift had laid the pallet down, it began to back up. And as they are engineered, it began its horn blasting to make sure anyone behind it would know to ‘look out’!

Upon seeing the large woman bending over in such a position and hearing the warning from the forklift which she could not see, Anika yelled, “Look out, Momma, she is backing up!” Just Sayin…RJS

To Web Master, I know this is not Tomales Bay related but thought is might be of interest to all fishermen. Delete if you don’t think it appropriate…


SCIENCE / FISH
Study May Turn You Off Fish Caught in US Lakes, Rivers.
Eating one freshwater fish is like drinking contaminated water for a month, study says

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2023 12:49 PM CST

'Astounding' Levels of 'Forever Chemicals' Found in US Fish
Anglers in American lakes and rivers should think about throwing their catches back, researchers say.
Scientists seeking to limit human exposure to "forever chemicals"—which don't break down easily in the environment—have found alarming levels of contamination in fish caught in America's lakes and rivers. According to a study published in the journal Environmental Research, eating a single freshwater fish brings as much exposure to the toxic chemicals as drinking contaminated water for a month. The researchers examined 500 samples of fish collected under an EPA monitoring system between 2013 and 2015 and found that only one did not contain PFOS, short for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; it's a toxin linked to health issues including cancer, liver damage, and immune system problems that was phased out of production here about 20 years ago.

“The levels of PFOS found in freshwater fish often exceeded an astounding 8,000 parts per trillion," compared to the 70 parts per trillion the EPA currently allows in drinking water, study coauthor David Andrews tells CNN. "You’d have to drink an incredible amount of water—we estimate a month of contaminated water—to get the same exposure as you would from a single serving of freshwater fish." He says anglers should strongly consider throwing their catches back instead of bringing them home for dinner. Last year, the EPA said the permitted level of PFOS in drinking water should be lowered to 0.02 parts per trillion. PFOS are part of a group of compounds calls PFAS introduced in the 1940s and used in products including nonstick coatings and firefighting foam.

The chemicals were found in fish across the US, including areas far from cities and factories. PFOS levels were highest in the Great Lakes. The Environmental Working Group, which led the research, has an interactive map of where the contaminated fish were caught. Andrews tells AFP that he grew up catching and eating fish, but he can "no longer look at a fish without thinking about PFAS contamination." The findings, he says, are "particularly concerning due to the impact on disadvantaged communities that consume fish as a source protein or for social or cultural reasons."

This one of my pet peeve ever thing we touch or breathe or eats or raise in garden is going to killed the peoples of this world because of eating fish
If that happens what about Japan eating more fish like China and India populations they eat millions of pounds of fish and have longevity especially Japan
To me it putting fears in people who hunt and fish and everything that is coming out of California is got a warning on the label claim cancer causing effects
Even a push mover (REALLY) I AM THROUGH RANTING NOW 🤔😬😡🤬