Hey guys! It has come to my attention that I have been holding some information from you for a while now.
You see, I always talk about being an only child, and, well, it’s been true sometimes.
For the first seven or so years of my life, I was an only child. No brothers. No sisters.
Then January 16, 2007 came. My parents’ second child was born on that day. His name is Kevin Carson Bernhart, and he’s 9 years old now.
When Kevin was in kindergarten, he was a big troublemaker. Drawing on the walls. Fighting kids at recess. At one point my parents threatened him with military school if he didn’t shape up. And he kept on causing disruptions everywhere he went, so off he went — to Illinois, where a now-closed “elementary military school” boarded him for three years. Obviously they closed after Kevin’s third year, and my parents and I made the decision to let Kevin come back home for a few reasons:
1. There weren’t (and aren’t) exactly a lot of options for him at that point. The elementary military school does exist, but it’s not a commonplace option and in fact I don’t think there are any in Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio — so keeping Kevin in such a school would have meant moving him quite a ways from where he had been.
2. Every report we had been getting on Kevin’s progress was coming back positive. The school was going to allow us to visit him, and in fact when we made a trip to Chicago to visit a couple colleges, we were able to drop in and check on him.
3. At the aforementioned visit, Kevin broke down in tears and simply told us, “I wanna go home.” My mom’s a very emotional woman, and I think this may have sealed the deal for her. My dad tries to stay neutral (if that makes sense) but I think he has a soft spot for the two of us deep down in there.
There were certainly other factors that went into the decision, but ultimately my parents and I had an extended “family meeting” (stretched over a two-week period) and made the decision to bring Kevin home for his fourth-grade year, which he would spend in the local public elementary school while my parents further discussed his future. As far as I know, the plan is to eventually enroll him in a private school, but I believe Kevin’s gonna be spending next year in public school as well.
Anyways, the reason I always talked about being an only child was because, in essence, I was one. Sure, I had a brother, but when you don’t see someone for almost three whole years… I figured it was easier (and it was) at the time to just pass myself off as an only child, but the time to explain has come (as Kevin appears to have found the Internet).
Writing this was quite an emotional process for me (you can imagine the memories that come out when I think about those early years with Kevin), and I’m sorry if his actions have confused you. I’ll be reviewing all of his posts, making comments publicly as I see fit, and I’ll have a nice, long talk with him tomorrow. Or maybe Sunday, since tomorrow’s a pretty busy day (local elections! Stars game! Kentucky Derby! Penguins game!)
Thank you for understanding.
— Parker
God bless america