As fate would have it, they got done at the doctor's office sooner than expected. Curtis was always in a hurry to get out of there after he had gotten his shots. He was supposed to wait 20 minutes for the nurse to check him to make certain he was not having an allergic reaction to the shots, but he always wanted to shorten the time. "Come on!" he'd shout. "I'm all right. Nothing's going to happen. Let's get outta here!" They got back home so early that day that Curtis had time to eat, change and rush out the door to catch a ride to the game with the neighbors. I was studying material for a test I was to take on the upcoming Saturday, when I heard Curtis leaving. I started to get up to see him off, but he was in a hurry to catch his ride, and I was trying to make sense of the material I was studying. "Catch you later, Dad. I'll tell you all about the game when I get home. I'll call if we need you to pick us up". Those would prove to be the last words I would ever hear my son say. I would come to regret not getting up to hug Curtis goodbye. I'd never get another chance. My life was about to be forever changed.