A man and his wife have a kid...

A man and his wife have a kid and he is the smartest kid you have ever met. By the age of 3 he was reading full newspaper articles and chapter books most kids don't read until middle school and his dad was the proudest dad in the world and wanted to make sure his son knew it.

He went up to his son and said, "Son, I could never be more proud of you. I am going to go out and get you a present and it can be anything you want."

The son sat there for a second thinking and said, "Dad, I really want a pink ping pong ball." The dad was rather confused by this but decided to go get his son the ball anyways.

As he was in line to check out with the ball he thought to himself, "Nah he doesn't actually want a stupid ping pong ball" so he went and got him an R/C car instead. The son was the happiest kid in the world and was so excited to get his new toy and gave his dad the biggest hug he could and the dad sat there smiling.

A couple years later when the son took standardized tests in elementary school he got a perfect score on every exam and his dad was the proudest dad in the world and wanted to make sure his son knew it.

He went up to his son and said, "Son, I could never be more proud of you. I am going to go out and get you a present and it can be anything you want."

The son sat there for a second thinking and said, "Dad, I really want a pink ping pong ball." The dad was still confused about his sons request but agreed and left to get the son his ball.

As he was about to check out with the ping pong ball he thought to himself, "Nah my son doesn't really want this" and went back and got him a brand new Xbox.

When he got home and gave the present to his son the son was ecstatic and jumped up and down and gave his dad the biggest hug he could and the dad sat there with a smile on his face.

Fast forward a couple years and the son is now graduating high school. Top of his class, full ride to whatever school he wanted (Yale for anyone who cares about that detail), graduated with just about every honor you could think of and his dad was the proudest dad in the world and wanted to make sure his son knew it.

He went up to his son and said, "Son, I could never be more proud of you. I am going to go out and get you a present and it can be anything you want."

The son sat there for a second thinking and said, "Dad, I really want a pink ping pong ball." The dad was yet again confused by his son's odd request but agreed to get the ball.

On his way to the store the dad passed by a motorcycle dealership and thought to himself, "Nah my son really doesn't that stupid ping pong ball when he can have a brand new motorcycle." And so the dad bought the new bike for his son and the son was the happiest son in the world and gave his dad the biggest hug he could before hopping on the bike. The dad sat there with a smile on his face as he watched his son drive off.

A couple weeks later, the mom and dad are sitting at the table eating lunch when they receive a troubling phone call. As they heard the call both of their faces started to turn pale, the son was in a terrible crash and was not expected to live through the rest of the day. The two rushed down to the hospital as soon as they could and they hurried to their son's room. When they got there they were happy to see the son was still conscious. The parents rushed to either side of the bed and the dad took his son's hand and looked him in the face and said, "Son, you have been the best child that anyone could ever ask for and I could never be more proud of you."

The son smiled and said, "Thanks dad."

"I do have one question for you though."

The son looked up at his old man and said, "Anything for you Dad."

"Why did you always want that pink ping pong ball?"

The son smiled and said, "Well I always wanted it bec-"

Then he died.