If you're wondering what he meant, he always loved coaching my son because my son was a left-hander. My son eventually became one of the best baseball players in Lancaster County and was rewarded with a full scholarship to play the game he loved at Villanova University. The pros came calling in a few years, but an injury to his left arm nixed the chance to play professionally. Having a left-hander in the family wasn't new to Carol and me since my younger brother was born a lefty and Carol's cousin, who played professional baseball, was a lefty. I grew up seeing all the things my brother had to conquer during his lifetime as a lefty so when my oldest son threw his first ball left-handed, I knew what he was in for during his life. Carol and I talked about the problems our son was going to have in school since we both remember teachers striking you on the hand with a stick if you didn't hold your pencil in your right hand.
During first grade our son's teacher brought in another teacher who was also left-handed to teach our son how to hold his pencil and how to position the paper properly. I was lucky to live, as well as teach, in a school district that felt it necessary to instruct students no matter how different they may be from the majority of the other students. That meant both mental and physical differences. Most people, unless you have a child, relative or may be left-handed yourself, don't realize all the problems that go with being left-handed. Little things like buttoning your shirt differently or having to reach across your plate to pick up the correct utensil for eating are minor to us, but can be a big deal for a child. And, when school starts you have to sit in a chair that you slide into on the left side since it has the writing board part on the right side. When it comes to cutting you have to learn how to use right-handed scissors. Have you ever thought about the fact that we live in a right-handed world?
Left-hander Albert Einstein. |
He may not be left-handed, but he can still throw hard! |
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