They had traveled north on I-65 from Auburn to Huntsville to celebrate the high school graduation of their niece and after the ceremony had concluded, Andy Burcham, and his wife, Dr. Jan Gunnels Burcham, headed with the rest of the family to a local bowling alley. It was May 25, a Saturday in Alabama, and evening was approaching.



It was at the bowling alley where Burcham saw an unexpected number appear on his cell phone. The voice on the other end was an Auburn police officer Burcham had come to know through work. When his name came up on the cell, Burcham wasn’t sure what to think. It was odd. The officer was not someone he spoke with regularly.



The news from the officer was, of course, not good. Rod and Paula Bramblett, dear friends of the Burchams, had been seriously injured in a two-car accident back in Auburn. The prognosis for survival was not good.



Burcham and his wife immediately drove to his mother-in-law’s house in Huntsville to pack...