ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Sometimes the best medicine is time.
That's why Dr. David Kersting never rushes his patients whether they are dogs or birds. For as long as he can remember, being a veterinarian has been his calling.
"I always tell the students that come in here to train. You have to be a people person and a pet person," he said.
Kersting can't ask his animal patients what's the matter, but he's always had a sense of discovery – ever since he was adopted by a loving family in south St. Louis County.
"My mom always told me I was very special being adopted," he said.
Kersting was always curious about his birth parents. But he was adopted through Catholic Charities, where birth certificates were almost as secret as the Vatican archives.
"One day I am watching Channel 5 and there's a story that says that the state of Missouri is going to release original birth certificates in a certain age group which I fell into," he said.
It wasn't long after that before his wife recorded a phone call.
"Through the work I've done, I believe you may be my birth father," Kersting told a man on the other end of his iPhone.
"There's no question about it," was the response.
Barry Weinberg, the man Kersting was talking to, knew he had a son and when the boy was born.
"So when he tells me those two things, it went right together," Kersting said.
Since then, the two have been inseparable. They don't just spend time – they invest in it.
"When we talk, we talk constantly. There is never a moment of silence," Weinberg said.
When Kersting was born, Weinberg and his girlfriend were just teenagers. They wanted to get married, but his girlfriend's parents laid down the law.
"They said they baby's going to put up for adoption. What they didn't tell us was, at that moment, you're never going to see each other again," Weinberg recalled.
Years later, Weinberg married someone else, adopted two daughters and ran a successful recycling business.
Kersting also connected with his birth mom, but the thread of a new relationship with his birth dad seems to be the strongest tie, making Father’s Day one of the most important of the year.
"I don't know how much longer I'm going to live, but I'm going to enjoy every single Father's Day," said Weinberg.
"We just want to celebrate the new family's coming together and how much we enjoy being with each other," added Kersting.
After years apart, both men have learned that together is a beautiful place to be.