“Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother is not simply a story of redemption; it is a vivid tale of the fall.”From first time author, Kevin Barhydt, comes a memoir of how a young boy abandoned, abused and addicted became a man with the hope, courage and resilience to seek his biological mother.

Abandoned by his mother at birth, Kevin was enveloped in a labyrinth of adoption, addiction, and child sexual abuse. By age 20, a shell of the boy he once was, Kevin succumbed completely to a suicidal lifestyle of drug dealing and prostitution. At 45, after many years of recovery, Kevin began a painful journey to uncover his origins, and the hopeful search for his mother.

“Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother” chronicles the unfolding of these two stories. The interwoven perspectives offer an unflinching look at the myriad ways life can cloak us in darkness and helplessness yet still resonate with joy and recovery.

PRAISE FOR DEAR STEPHEN MICHAEL’S MOTHER:

"You read Kevin’s book for the story of a life lived beyond what seems survivable. You read it to learn that anything is possible, that the human spirit is as remarkable as some people say it is, more than remarkable: miraculous."
—Anne Heffron, author of "You Don't Look Adopted"

“Kevin’s story was no secret to me. Reading it made my heart bleed. This memoir is memorable; it is a gripping narrative, a detective novel told with a congenial and deceptive simplicity. The description of addiction – the cravings, bad decisions, withdrawal, and the endless drug seeking and general life chaos, the desperation and despair – tore through me, reminded me, terrified me. The search for family, the need for connection, for finding faces that mirror your own, was deeply familiar to me. And Oh the places one can go that Dr. Seuss could not begin to imagine, and yet to begin to imagine that one could, ever-so-slowly, climb out from the pit of shame and revulsion. It is not simply a story of redemption; it is a vivid tale of the fall.”
—Arlene Lev, author, clinical social worker, family therapist, educator

"Kevin Barhydt has written a powerful, intense, and searingly honest story of himself growing up adopted, suffering the feelings of abandonment and rejection so common to adoptees and so tragic in their effects on self-esteem and personal development. Barhydt has been uncompromising in covering the dark aspects of a life gone off the rails, making for difficult reading at times as he takes us into the details of his youthful history, but when he finally wakes up to the need to transform and redeem himself, we are thankful to read of his beginning healing and then joyful discovery of the family he'd always missed and longed for. This book may be of particular interest to other adoptees, all too many of whom have also suffered secondary addictions."
—Linda Franklin, author of “I'll Always Carry You”

“This is not your typical addict-memoir. There are no celebrities, no athletes, politicians or rock stars or their offspring. Only ordinary people. Kevin Barhydt takes us deep into the dark labyrinth of cruelty and hopelessness that is the world of those who fall for the lies that narcotics and alcohol tell us. Addicts talk about hitting bottom, but Barhydt shows us there is no bottom. No matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. Sometimes with dark humor, other times with clear-eyed reporting, he gives us the true picture of men, women and children in a typical American community, whom we walk past everyday, seemingly fine, but underneath the surface fighting a losing battle for their sanity and finally, their lives. Just as honest too, is the story of Kevin's journey out of that existence. I was not sure he'd make it until the book's final sentence. This may not be for the casual reader, but if you or anyone you love struggles with addiction, you should read this book.”
—Martin Egan, playwright