A feel good story for everyone...updated 4-18
HeritageAddict
Posts: 3,266
These people are friends of mine, and the story is about four years old (actually 4 years old this weekend), but it's a pretty good read. Sometimes stars do some very nice things, and hey there is a signed bat involved so it is memorabilia related. 
Sorry it's so choppy, he sent it to me on facebook and I'm feeling to lazy to edit it into an easier to read format.
On Friday night I took the family to the first ever outdoor showing of
Field of Dreams at the origin...al movie set location. Netflix had brought in a 30-foot screen and it looked as if it might bring a fair number of people to Dyersville.
Then, Kevin Costner announced that he would, for the first time in 18
years, return to the set of the beloved movie.
Suddenly the need to get there early to attain better seats became a
necessity.
We arrived around 2:30 for a 7pm concert from Kevin Costner and an 8:30
showing of the movie.
Soon after arriving we saw that something was happening at the pitcher's
mound. There, barely 15 feet in front of us was Kevin Costner pitching to any and all kids that came up.
If a kid was very good he told them to take it easy out of fear for the safety of others. If a child was reticent and not capable of hitting the ball well he would pitch over and over and over to them - as long as it took for then to hit the ball.
In general, he was an everyday guy out throwing balls to children at one of the most famous "ballparks" in America.
Now, you must know, my wife works very hard to make sure that our son, Owen
(OPIE - Our Prayers In Evidence) gets to do things that other "normal" children take for granted. Owen was
born 13 weeks early and as a result of that has spent over 120 days in the hospital in his life. (97 in the Neonatal
Intesive Care at birth). His only long-term complication from that is Cerebral Palsy. At the age of two and a half he finally mastered being able to roll over. He cannot sit up unassisted and according to doctors has a small chance of ever walking. That has not affected his cognitive skills at all. By all accounts he is beyond the charts in verbal and reasoning skills.
With all of those "disadvantages" in life you would think he has a reason to frown. Far from it. His day contains more smiles that all of my other six children combined. He has lived through more in 38 months of life than I have seen in 38 years.
So, my wife pushed me to take OPIE to the ever-forming line to have a chance for this magical moment.
I was not eager. I do not like to "push" his handicap. I felt that Kevin Costner would not want to pitch to a boy in a wheelchair because he might get hurt. I found out how wrong I was.
As the line narrowed and our chance came closer I was very close to just leaving the line. OPIE wanted to go and "hit the baseball", but I felt very out of place.
Right at the moment that we were only 5-6 kids away I felt a tap on my shoulder. There in front of me was a very tall man who quite clearly worked in PR. His presence was overwhelming - this man clearly got things done in life. (My wife and I agreed that he was the Randy Seberg of California).
He asked if I would be taking my son to the mound. I thought for sure this was to chastise me and tell me that they did not feel it was safe. I replied that if Mr. Costner agreed we could
give it a go. (Praying that they would take me up on the way to get out of this).
Quite to the contrary. Tim, as I later found out was his name, told me
that Mr. Costner would be leaving soon for a sound check. They wanted to make sure that my son got up to bat.
Tim cleared an area and asked that OPIE be allowed to bat out of order.
The parents of the children who had waited their turn and now knew that that was in vain gladly gave up their spot.
OPIE was pushed to the mound and the search for a suitable bat commenced. Someone brought up an aluminum bat
that was 18 inches long at best.
Another was an old worn out wooden bat made for a child in his teens.
Then, something so minor yet so major happened. A man brought out a brand new, official, adult size Field of
Dreams engraved bat - a thirty-dollar souvenir from the gift shop, yet priceless in our eyes. He told us that
this was OPIE's bat to keep.
I got to the side of Owen and helped him choke up on the bat. Kevin Costner
moved in like a pitcher expecting a bunt. Because of the fine choice of an adult bat, OPIE's "reach" of his
bat extended a good two feet over the side of his wheelchair. Unless Mr. Costner threw a wild one, OPIE's safety was
insured.
Owen was grinning ear to ear. The underhanded pitch came at him right in the sweet spot. I helped him swing the
bat and on the first and only pitch he got a single.
I thought everything was over. The cheering crowd did not. They pushed for
Owen to "run" to first base.
So, I pushed his wheelchair up the line to the awaiting first baseman.
All of this to the applause of the crowd and the ear to ear grin of
OPIE.
Opie had "gotten to first base" with Kevin Costner.
The sound check needed to happen and the playing with kids was over. It
was time for Kevin Costner to leave.
The crowd rushed to the Oscar Winning star to get an autograph. Now I am not a person that glorifies stardom. We
had not even brought a pen with us because getting an autograph from a movie star is not something that we
normally care about. However, now, he was not just a movie star. He was the
person who made my son smile even more.
Kevin did sign that bat for us, and it will be the first "trophy" to go into our new Trophy Case at the Pleasant Lawn
School.
Opie earned the first trophy that this school has seen since 1994. The fact
that the bat was a gift from a stranger makes it special. The fact that the bat hit a ball pitched by Kevin
Costner at the original movie site makes it amazing.
However, the signed bat is not all that we took from that night.
To this day, OPIE has not hit Self Realization yet. He does not question,
nor do I think he knows that he is different.
Maybe, there will come a day when he will realize that other kids can
get up in the morning without asking their parent's to pick them up. Surely he will soon see that his siblings get
to play on the playground without help. All of these realizations will come in time. As a parent I just want to be able
to push that moment off as long as I can.
Kevin Costner, and the crowd of strangers from Iowa bought me one more
day.
My son, confined to a wheelchair with no earthly hope of ever running to first base, was given an
opportunity to be normal for the day.
We were not the only people in attendance that learned a thing or two
that night.
The strong, who clearly could have
hit the ball into the cornfield of left field learned that sometimes in life their "hit" needs to be subdued for the safety
and good of others. The weak learned that at least as a child, you are not
always out after three strikes. Others learned that giving of oneself is greater that what could have been
achieved in the first place. To the parents and
children who gave up their spot for Owen they were deprived of a 30 second
encounter with a star.
That is all he is - a star. To me, he was not truly a star in my eyes until he laid down his
stardom and took up his humanity. Those children gave up 30 seconds with a "star" to let my child have a memory
with a real star that will last a lifetime.
Owen, well, he learned nothing. He went into it thinking he was going to get to "hit the ball".
He did. He already knew he was a three-year old boy and that he liked baseball. Now, he
just knows that he has played. Not too many life lessons to learn when you have already gone through what he has in
his short life.
I have lived here in SE Iowa for right at a year now. I have come towork,
worked on finding a church, and made some friends. Until Friday in my heart of hearts I did not feel I was an
Iowan.
Just a transplanted Tulsan who existed in this little corner of the world.
As "corny" as it sounds, that Friday night in a baseball field carved
out and surrounded by acres of six foot tall corn, with hundreds of fellow Iowans, I felt at home. These "neighbors"
cheered my son on. They gave up their rightful place in line to a boy with a dream to "hit the baseball".
That he did.
Is this Heaven?
No, It's Iowa, and it is now my home.
Sorry it's so choppy, he sent it to me on facebook and I'm feeling to lazy to edit it into an easier to read format.On Friday night I took the family to the first ever outdoor showing of
Field of Dreams at the origin...al movie set location. Netflix had brought in a 30-foot screen and it looked as if it might bring a fair number of people to Dyersville.
Then, Kevin Costner announced that he would, for the first time in 18
years, return to the set of the beloved movie.
Suddenly the need to get there early to attain better seats became a
necessity.
We arrived around 2:30 for a 7pm concert from Kevin Costner and an 8:30
showing of the movie.
Soon after arriving we saw that something was happening at the pitcher's
mound. There, barely 15 feet in front of us was Kevin Costner pitching to any and all kids that came up.
If a kid was very good he told them to take it easy out of fear for the safety of others. If a child was reticent and not capable of hitting the ball well he would pitch over and over and over to them - as long as it took for then to hit the ball.
In general, he was an everyday guy out throwing balls to children at one of the most famous "ballparks" in America.
Now, you must know, my wife works very hard to make sure that our son, Owen
(OPIE - Our Prayers In Evidence) gets to do things that other "normal" children take for granted. Owen was
born 13 weeks early and as a result of that has spent over 120 days in the hospital in his life. (97 in the Neonatal
Intesive Care at birth). His only long-term complication from that is Cerebral Palsy. At the age of two and a half he finally mastered being able to roll over. He cannot sit up unassisted and according to doctors has a small chance of ever walking. That has not affected his cognitive skills at all. By all accounts he is beyond the charts in verbal and reasoning skills.
With all of those "disadvantages" in life you would think he has a reason to frown. Far from it. His day contains more smiles that all of my other six children combined. He has lived through more in 38 months of life than I have seen in 38 years.
So, my wife pushed me to take OPIE to the ever-forming line to have a chance for this magical moment.
I was not eager. I do not like to "push" his handicap. I felt that Kevin Costner would not want to pitch to a boy in a wheelchair because he might get hurt. I found out how wrong I was.
As the line narrowed and our chance came closer I was very close to just leaving the line. OPIE wanted to go and "hit the baseball", but I felt very out of place.
Right at the moment that we were only 5-6 kids away I felt a tap on my shoulder. There in front of me was a very tall man who quite clearly worked in PR. His presence was overwhelming - this man clearly got things done in life. (My wife and I agreed that he was the Randy Seberg of California).
He asked if I would be taking my son to the mound. I thought for sure this was to chastise me and tell me that they did not feel it was safe. I replied that if Mr. Costner agreed we could
give it a go. (Praying that they would take me up on the way to get out of this).
Quite to the contrary. Tim, as I later found out was his name, told me
that Mr. Costner would be leaving soon for a sound check. They wanted to make sure that my son got up to bat.
Tim cleared an area and asked that OPIE be allowed to bat out of order.
The parents of the children who had waited their turn and now knew that that was in vain gladly gave up their spot.
OPIE was pushed to the mound and the search for a suitable bat commenced. Someone brought up an aluminum bat
that was 18 inches long at best.
Another was an old worn out wooden bat made for a child in his teens.
Then, something so minor yet so major happened. A man brought out a brand new, official, adult size Field of
Dreams engraved bat - a thirty-dollar souvenir from the gift shop, yet priceless in our eyes. He told us that
this was OPIE's bat to keep.
I got to the side of Owen and helped him choke up on the bat. Kevin Costner
moved in like a pitcher expecting a bunt. Because of the fine choice of an adult bat, OPIE's "reach" of his
bat extended a good two feet over the side of his wheelchair. Unless Mr. Costner threw a wild one, OPIE's safety was
insured.
Owen was grinning ear to ear. The underhanded pitch came at him right in the sweet spot. I helped him swing the
bat and on the first and only pitch he got a single.
I thought everything was over. The cheering crowd did not. They pushed for
Owen to "run" to first base.
So, I pushed his wheelchair up the line to the awaiting first baseman.
All of this to the applause of the crowd and the ear to ear grin of
OPIE.
Opie had "gotten to first base" with Kevin Costner.
The sound check needed to happen and the playing with kids was over. It
was time for Kevin Costner to leave.
The crowd rushed to the Oscar Winning star to get an autograph. Now I am not a person that glorifies stardom. We
had not even brought a pen with us because getting an autograph from a movie star is not something that we
normally care about. However, now, he was not just a movie star. He was the
person who made my son smile even more.
Kevin did sign that bat for us, and it will be the first "trophy" to go into our new Trophy Case at the Pleasant Lawn
School.
Opie earned the first trophy that this school has seen since 1994. The fact
that the bat was a gift from a stranger makes it special. The fact that the bat hit a ball pitched by Kevin
Costner at the original movie site makes it amazing.
However, the signed bat is not all that we took from that night.
To this day, OPIE has not hit Self Realization yet. He does not question,
nor do I think he knows that he is different.
Maybe, there will come a day when he will realize that other kids can
get up in the morning without asking their parent's to pick them up. Surely he will soon see that his siblings get
to play on the playground without help. All of these realizations will come in time. As a parent I just want to be able
to push that moment off as long as I can.
Kevin Costner, and the crowd of strangers from Iowa bought me one more
day.
My son, confined to a wheelchair with no earthly hope of ever running to first base, was given an
opportunity to be normal for the day.
We were not the only people in attendance that learned a thing or two
that night.
The strong, who clearly could have
hit the ball into the cornfield of left field learned that sometimes in life their "hit" needs to be subdued for the safety
and good of others. The weak learned that at least as a child, you are not
always out after three strikes. Others learned that giving of oneself is greater that what could have been
achieved in the first place. To the parents and
children who gave up their spot for Owen they were deprived of a 30 second
encounter with a star.
That is all he is - a star. To me, he was not truly a star in my eyes until he laid down his
stardom and took up his humanity. Those children gave up 30 seconds with a "star" to let my child have a memory
with a real star that will last a lifetime.
Owen, well, he learned nothing. He went into it thinking he was going to get to "hit the ball".
He did. He already knew he was a three-year old boy and that he liked baseball. Now, he
just knows that he has played. Not too many life lessons to learn when you have already gone through what he has in
his short life.
I have lived here in SE Iowa for right at a year now. I have come towork,
worked on finding a church, and made some friends. Until Friday in my heart of hearts I did not feel I was an
Iowan.
Just a transplanted Tulsan who existed in this little corner of the world.
As "corny" as it sounds, that Friday night in a baseball field carved
out and surrounded by acres of six foot tall corn, with hundreds of fellow Iowans, I felt at home. These "neighbors"
cheered my son on. They gave up their rightful place in line to a boy with a dream to "hit the baseball".
That he did.
Is this Heaven?
No, It's Iowa, and it is now my home.
0
Comments
Steve
James
I always tear up when I watch that movie and I had the same reaction when I read your friend's story. It really makes you believe that OPIE's magical day in Dyersville must have somehow been been guided by a loving and unseen hand.
- John Wooden
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
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Many thanks for sharing it.
Donato
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It really sends a great message to other dad's, and glad to hear that other parents didn't object (unfortunately, a little shocking!)
Of all the great parts of the story, I think the best line has to be
"Opie had "gotten to first base" with Kevin Costner."
Thanks for sharing
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Did I leave anything out?
Greatness, thanks for sharing that with us Doran.
Shane
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Here's the message his mom sent me:
"Thank you so much for your involvement in getting these baseball cards here to Owen. He's so limited on hobby-type things since he can't play sports or a musical instrument (he really only has one hand that works and even it is pretty shaky). This really will be right up his alley and we're really excited about sitting down and going through these cards with him. This is great - he's very excited about it and can't wait to dig in and start organizing them. If I know my boy, he'll be rattling off batting averages, ERAs, and hometowns by the end of the week."
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PM me address Doran - I've got some stuff to send off to him
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