Telling the story of ‘Kevin’s Last Walk’

Presenting to the students of Aurora High School during the morning of March 14, public speaker Barry Adkins walked out onto the theater stage as high school principal read the introduction to Adkin’s book, “Kevin’s Last Walk: A Father’s Final Journey With His Son,” to the students.
“My name is Kevin Adkins: The day I moved out of my dad’s house, I was so excited. My life was finally beginning,” Kittle read. “Little did I know it would end in a needless tragedy. My dad could have let this story end sadly, but he didn’t. This is our story.”
Before sharing his story, Adkins asked the students to keep one thing in mind.
“The first thing I’m going to tell you is, it’s important to understand I’m not here to tell you how to live your life,” Adkins stated. “I’m here to tell you the story and as you listen to this story, think about what you want for your story.”
He then turned to the projected image of his son on on stage behind him.
“That was actually his high school graduation picture,” he commented. “He was all about the FFA and raising pigs. The cowboy.”
After Kevin graduated high school in Gilbert, Ariz., in 2005, Adkins said his son got his own truck and place to live, telling his parents how excited he was that “his life was finally beginning.”
He also recalled the day two months later when Kevin and his friend, Craig, where packing Kevin’s truck to move him into his own place.
“I walked out to him like I normally do and told him that I loved him and to be careful and watched him drive away,” Adkins said. “It was the last time I saw him alive.”
Adkins said that night Kevin’s friends had thrown a housewarming party for him where they were drinking shots and a keg of beer. During the party, Kevin left a voice mail for his sister, which Adkins played for the students. In the recording Kevin laughs and talks about how much he loved his sister and his nephew.
“That doesn’t seem to be a big deal right?” Adkins asked. “I think it’s referred to drunk dialing. No big deal, except somebody died that night... my son. He passed out a short time after he left that voice mail.”
Soon afterwards 911 calls were made for Kevin. One said he had to difficulty breathing and another caller said he was not breathing.
Adkins then shared how he and his wife heard the news the following morning, with officers arriving at his door.
“(An officer) said ‘There’s been an accident,’ that ‘Your son is dead,’” he said. “We asked who because have a number of children. They said it was Kevin and they handed me his driver’s license. There’s something pretty final about when a police officer hands your child’s driver’s license.” 
Adkins stated that Kevin’s cause of death was ruled as alcohol poisoning.
“His blood alcohol content was .36 percent,” Adkins stated. “Very drunk. It’s the only statistic that I mentioned and the other reason that I mentioned it is because if you’re ever in that situation, think about Kevin’s friend, Craig. It’s a night he’ll never forget. I promise you.”

Make something good
Adkins shared an excerpt from his speech at Kevin’s memorial service, asking those to take his son’s death as a means to do something good against bad situations.
“Many of you have asked, ‘What can I do to help?’ he read. “Well here’s what you can do. Each of you, can make something very good come from this. It can be a tiny something good or something very good, but I’m convinced that something very good can come from this. I don’t know who, what, where, why or how, but I know that it will. I ask each and every one of you to find that something very good and make it happen.”
He commented that he didn’t want his son’s death to just be remembered as another tragedy.
“The world doesn’t need any more victims,” Adkins stated. “We got plenty already. The world needs people to take something bad and they make something very good and I thought about what I hope somebody else would do if it happened to their kid.” 
Adkins decided to take Kevin’s ashes from their home in Arizona to Kevin’s favorite place in Kalispell, Mont., where Adkins grew up.
“Kevin had been there a number of times where we talked about wanting to move up there some day and buy a ranch,” Adkins explained.
In keeping with his own request about making something good out of his son’s death, he decided to make the 1,400-mile journey to Kalispell on foot and to share Kevin’s story. 
“I suppose the normal thing would be to do a drive there, but I put in my backpack and walked from Gilbert, Ariz. to California with his ashes in my backpack and told the story along the way,” he said. “Again, not to raise money but to tell the story.” 
Adkins would meet with students from multiple schools during his trek to Montana, talking about the dangers of drinking and alcohol poisoning. Everywhere he went Adkins asked students to think about three important factors when facing dark moments in their lives.
The first he mentioned was decision-making, especially when it involves drugs and alcohol.
“You need to educate yourself about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse as if your life depended upon it because it does,” he stated. “The second thing is about adversity. Bad stuff is going to happen. You’re not going to make the team, you didn’t get the scholarship or your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you rather unceremoniously. The way you respond to adversity, it’s going to define your life. Notice how I didn’t say ‘might?’ It will.”
The third factor, Adkins said was the most important of all—forgiveness.
“It was easy for me to forgive the guys at the party because this was his choice, right?” he asked. “It was Kevin’s decision and it was easy for me to forgive my kid, because that’s what parents do.”

A letter to Kevin
Adkins explained to the students and staff that he had written “Kevin’s Last Walk” to capture his 1,400-mile journey as well as to cherish the memories he has of his son. Reading from his book, he also shared his letter to Kevin written after he had completed their journey.
“Dear Kevin, Well Son, it’s been a incredible journey,” Adkins read. “I kept you close to me all the way. Your ashes were there, in my backpack to give me strength and courage every time I spoke. We walked together in barren deserts, withering winds, snow and rain storms, up high mountain passes, down through beautiful sun-drenched mountain valleys for the final time.
“I played back so many fond memories of you as I walked,” he continued. “Memories of the day you were born, your many baseball and soccer games and trips to the county fair with your pigs, sitting at our dinner table talking about life, our many hunting trips together, hugging you so tight after you graduated from high school, and yes, the last time I saw you alive. I hugged you and told you I loved you and to be careful. I then stood on our front porch and watched as you drove away, for the final time.”
“At the viewing, before the memorial, I was there, but I didn’t go in,” Adkins said. “I stood outside with friends and family—hugging, laughing, crying. I chose not to see you lying in a casket, but to remember you as you lived; your love for a good laugh, a good friend and for life. You taught me many things in life, about being a father and what it means to love a child. Your death has taught me how deep that love goes and that life holds no guarantees. You taught me that God has a plan for each of us and that sometimes someone must die so that others might live. You are no longer with us physically, but you will always be there in our hearts.” 
Before he concluded his presentation, Atkins asked the students of Aurora High School one final question: “At the beginning, I talked about stories, right? Here’s the deal, this is Kevin’s story. My question for you is, what do you want your story to be?”