WHAT LESSONS ARE WE TEACHING ON KINDNESS?
I love the story of a women’s softball game between CENTRAL OREGON and WESTERN OREGON. Central Oregon had the lead and Western Oregon had scored and made the game much closer. A freshman player girl from Western Oregon stepped to the plate. Her name was SARA TUCHOLSKY. Sara had never had a homerun. On this day SARA stepped to the plate and made her first career home run. As Sara was rounding first base she tore the muscles in her knee so bad that she could not move for the great pain. The rules are very clear her coach could not touch her. No one on the team could touch or help Sara finish walking around the bases. Sara was laying on the ground crying in great pain.
To everyone’s surprise a player from CENTRAL OREGON took off her glove and laid it aside. She reached down and helped Sara up. Another girl from Central lay aside her glove and the two women got under SARA’s ARMS. They helped her to second base. Then third… They carried her to HOME PLATE and they sat SARA’S FOOT ON HOME.
This act of kindness cost CENTRAL OREGON the game. WESTERN WON THE GAME! The two Central Oregon players were greeted with screams of cheer and applause. The crowd gave a standing ovation. The coaches of both teams ran out on the field. The benches cleared and rejoiced. Even the umpires were amazed.
THERE WAS A GREAT LESSON TAUGHT AND LEARNED THAT DAY… THE LESSON WAS MORE THAN W OR L. The lesson was greater than WIN and LOSE.