THE STROKE OF A BAT.

THE STROKE OF A BAT. When circumstances blur the line separating cause from effect, the result can be both curious and extraordinary.

For example. Zac, 9, hit his first of many Little League homeruns on May 1. Amid the fans cheering in the grandstands sat his grandpa, quietly soaking in the uniquely thrilling moment. “I only want to live long enough to see my grandson hit a homerun,” he would joke before each game.

That night the proud grandpa phoned his two brothers and a number of friends across the country to boast about his grandson’s mighty slam.

Zac was asleep by the time his dad arrived home from an unfortunately scheduled business meeting (redundant, I know) that pulled him away midway through the game. Later that night the grandpa phoned his son, Zac’s dad, and was overjoyed to get to be the first to tell him the story of Zac’s heroics.

The next day another unpredictable, yet inevitable event happened. The grandpa, only 63 but suffering for several years from acute kidney failure, died abruptly from a massive stroke.

This story is not to suggest something as cliché as the power of positive thinking kept my dad alive long enough to witness his “thrill of a lifetime.” Actually, I believe it’s more likely his powerful thoughts helped lift that ball over the centerfield fence. And to think it only took 22 years to distinguish the cause from effect of that serendipitous stroke of the bat.

I wish there was some double-underlined moral to share here. But, if nothing else, maybe this story will encourage others, especially long-term care practitioners, to document some of the “metaphysical coincidences” that seem to occur almost daily.