As many of you know, my family lost my brother Kevin on Friday, January 4th, 2013 rather unexpectedly. Kevin had battled, for years, a battle with mental illness which led to substance abuse along the way. The autopsy came back pretty vague, we still do not really know what happened outside of the fact that his heart stopped beating sometime that morning. We probably have more questions now after the autopsy results then we did the days and weeks immediately after his death.
As I have talked about before, Kevin is the reason I went into education. Throughout Kevin's school years he had teachers that really didn't believe in him or see his potential. He never really had that teacher that saw past the goofy class clown into the deep soul that cared passionately about animals, people, and caring what people thought of him. He had a teacher in his early elementary years tell my mom that he would never amount to anything and that they would have nothing but problems with Kevin. That comment still breaks my heart today. I want to be that positive teacher and adult for students like Kevin. I want each student that I encounter to know that they do matter. They have a story to tell. But this post is not about me at all.
What many people may not know is that Kevin always had a burning desire to attend and finish college. He was working towards a degree in Sociology. He really wanted to become a social worker. I always told him that he had such a powerful story and voice to truly help people with everything he had been through and had overcome. He was a semester (12 credits) away from graduating. He was enrolled in classes after a brief sabbatical. He was to begin classes in mid January of 2013. And as I previously said, he passed away January 4th of 2013. Roughly two weeks before he was slated to begin class.
A wonderful counselor that Kevin worked with over the years at the university wrote a letter to the powers that be of the university asking that they award Kevin his degree posthumously. They declined, stating that he had not begun classes.
I am finally at a point where I can talk about Kevin and his story somewhat calmly. I want to continue to share his story, his passion, and his perseverance with the world. I will share this story regardless of whether he is awarded the degree. I believe the degree can bring some positive press to his story and also give his story a happy ending.
I am reaching out to you and hoping you will decide to share Kevin's story as it is a powerful one that I truly believe can help many people. So please share Kevin's story and the petition below so that we can raise awareness of mental illness and substance abuse. People with these illnesses truly have illnesses. They did not ask for them. They, like Kevin, have dreams and goals. We do not want their dreams to die, and by telling Kevin's story maybe they can get the help they need so that their dreams and goals do not die.
Kevin's Dream
