I had just graduated from school. Mom had been telling me that it would be good for me to spend some of my last summer before college with my Aunt Kate. She had lots of yard work projects that she needed help with. “I spoke with your Aunt and she is so excited to have you. I mentioned to her that you need your required physical before college and she said that her boyfriend, Frank, is a doctor and can do it for you for free and fill out the paperwork for you. That’s so nice of her!”

My Aunt Kate was twenty six years old and had taken care of me growing up on many occasions. Sometimes as a baby sitter, other times, more as a surrogate mom. We had a much different relationship than I had with my other Aunts since she was a teenager when I was a kid. There were plenty of embarrassing episodes that had occurred in the course of our relationship because of how she had to care for me and our ages at the time. I had not yet met her new boyfriend.

When I got to Aunt Kate’s house, she hugged me and embarrassed me by telling me how handsome I had become. She showed me to the spare bedroom that I would stay in. After I had finished getting my luggage in, she took me out to the back yard, “I want to introduce you to Frank. He has refurbished the cottage and outfitted it as his medical clinic.”

We head out to the cottage and go inside. “Frank, this is my darling nephew, Andy!”

Frank looks about 10 years older than my Aunt Kate. He shakes my hand firmly.

“Andy, this is Frank Richards,” added Kate.

I did some chores for Aunt Kate that afternoon. I went to my room before dinner and she came by with extra towels. “I’ll let you shower before dinner Andy. You may want to shower again in the morning before you meet with Frank. I’m certain he is going to give you a very thorough exam, so best to be prepared for that. See you at dinner.”

“Just call me Frank, Andy!” Frank was looking me over like only a physician would do and I felt a little awkward as he did this.

The cottage was just a single room. There was a vinyl upholstered exam table in the middle. Multiple glass cabinets against the far wall. The adjacent wall had a sink.

“Frank, Andy needs his precollege physical done and I thought you could do that for him while he is staying.”

Frank brighten up excitedly on hearing this, “I would be happy to! My specialty is teen development. I can get an eighteen year old like you off to a good start in college and make sure everything is in order for you to have a fulfilling college experience.”

Hearing this made me a little nervous, but I knew I needed the exam forms filled out for school and was glad that I would get it done on time.

“Andy, why don’t you meet me here tomorrow morning at 9 and we can get started?” Frank seemed like he could hardly wait as he said this.