Dear Kyle,
Today I stand on the bima at Temple Emanuel. This is the same Temple where your grandparents, Lillian and Carl Strang were married in 1952, the same Temple you had your baby naming at in 1993, and the same Temple where your cousin Jeremy will be Bar Mitzvah next February. Your baby naming was such a joyous occasion for all of us. Sara and Erin got the cousin they always dreamed of. You were the first Strang boy of their generation. Today we are all here again to say goodbye to you…I mean “see ya”.
Ky Ky. That’s what I called you. I can’t take credit for the name, your brother Niko was the originator when he was just learning to talk. Our family was good at nicknames. Your papa started that. You had other names too. Croc, Crocodile, Killahkyle to name a couple.
Ky Ky, we never finished our conversation Wednesday morning. I still had to ask you over for burritos and 24 next Monday with Jesse and Erin and if you wanted to go to Dunsmuir with us this year. I had thought that maybe we could have your birthday up there. Oh, and Sara has a job for you to do at her wedding. When you stopped texting, I thought, “Oh, well, I can always talk to him later.” My old fingers need a break. That was an hour and a half before your tragic accident with PJ.
Now I find out that not only were you texting with me, but you were texting with Gayle and Hannah and probably innumerable others of your great circle of treasured friends, and taking a shower! You made us ALL your priority.
Kyle, your doors were just beginning to open for you. I felt that you were beginning to find yourself, your inner peace… and you had a plan. And you and Hannah found each other. All the pieces were finally coming together for you. And, on top of that, you and I were really getting to have a relationship. I can’t tell you the high I was on after our great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and our bad movie date. How we laughed after that movie about how we both sat all the way through such a bad movie – and what was that movie about anyway? We never really figured that out did we? But the conversation that night was good. Really good. I really felt we connected in a way we never had before. I was so proud of you and so impressed with your maturity. Didn’t I say that you were way way more mature than I? I meant it.
And I was so looking forward to coming to your CAS open house again this year. You said that this year’s was going to be even better than last year and that this year I would see some of your films. I couldn’t wait.
You have amazing friends Kyle. I have spoken with a lot of them in the last couple of days. They all had the same wonderful things to say about you. You are funny, you are caring, you are honest, and “you were always there for me”. What a tribute. I know how important each and every one of them were to you and you to them. Each and every one of you here today was a part of Kyle. Because of you Kyle, we are all a little richer. What a great group of people you surrounded yourself with.
Your life was way too short Ky Ky. You didn’t make it to your homeland but you have made it home. You are taking your Star of David on your heart and your She’ma with you and that will give you comfort and peace. We know what that Star of David meant to you. I saw the way you touched it. From what I understand, you and PJ were having the best time, right up until the last seconds of your lives. And that is good. All of us are going to miss you. Your parents, all of your aunts and uncles, cousins Jeremy, Carlyn, Sara and Erin and all the Karim cousins, grandmothers Lillian and Evelyn and for sure all of your hundreds of friends. You touched us all Ky Ky and a part of you lives in each one of us.
Sandi
(Kyle's Aunt)
Sandi
(Kyle's Aunt)
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