Birth
Kyle came into the Darroch family almost as suddenly as he left. His seventeen-year-old birth mother was wrestling with whether she should keep him or give him up for adoption. Finally, she decided that he would be better in a home with both a mother and a father and made the very difficult decision to give him up. But Barry and Ann were not the ones she had in mind. It was another couple with whom she had been in contact. When she called them with her decision, she learned that they had just adopted a child the day before and recommended Barry and Ann. Twenty-four hours sooner and Kyle might never have become their son.

When they went to the hospital to see him, the staff was starting the process of having him put into the care of social services for public adoption and said that the Darrochs wouldn’t have time to complete the process privately. Nevertheless, within days the paperwork had been finished, and they were able to bring him home as their very own son.

Barry remembers spending hours at the mall buying every imaginable item of baby care from cribs to high chairs. When they asked him when the baby was due, he said that his son had arrived just that day, but that he had only just found out the day before. They say the father is always the last to know!

Personality
A few days ago I stood in Kyle’s room, looking at his medals from soccer and from the school’s Read-a-Thon. On his wall were two plaques for Scripture memory work that he had done in grades one and two. He was very disappointed that he hadn’t got one in grade three, but it was not for lack of effort. Also, on his wall was a certificate with his name and its meaning. "Kyle" means "fair and handsome," and I think you will agree that one look at his picture will confirm the truth of that.

As a principal, there are many students whom I do not get to know that well. Some I know by name only, and there are some I know only too well. Kyle, for me, was in between those two groups. Seldom in trouble, at least enough to warrant repeated visits to my office, he always greeted me by name on the playground, classroom steps, or the soccer fields. I substituted a few times for Mrs. Doraty, his grade three teacher, and quickly perceived him to be a child with lots of energy and enthusiasm for life. It is interesting to note that everyone who spoke of him used similar words.

He first came to Airdrie Koinonia Christian School after a very difficult first year of school. The Darrochs had been told that Kyle would never do well. While it’s true that he never grew to love reading, he certainly did learn to read under the attentive and persistent care of Mrs. Bunn. And in fact, after he had completed grade three, Barry calculated back from the letter grades he’d received and figured that he had achieved an 87% average.

Mrs. Hastman, his grade two teacher, remembers Kyle as a sparkle in the classroom. He got along well with everyone and was well liked by all his classmates. He had a terrific sense of humour and was quite a comedian. He also liked to chew gum which was a bit of a source of contention. However, those who knew Kyle, can attest to his perseverance. Finally, Mrs. Hastman relented a bit and said that if he didn’t "chomp it" and she didn’t see him chewing it, he could keep his gum. Kyle became quite adept at keeping it in his mouth and carrying on his work without actually chewing the gum. Go figure!

Mrs. Doraty remembers watching Kyle roaring around the playground when he was still in grade two and thinking, "Uh, oh, I’m going to have my hands full with that little fellow." But he stole her heart from the first day. He loved to tease and joke around with the other kids. Once, in the middle of a tense game of "Steal the Bacon" as he and another male student circled warily around the bacon in the center of the gym, Kyle suddenly said with a flourish, "Ladies first!" The whole class cracked up.

Miss Hamm, his grade four teacher, said that when she thought of Kyle, she thought of the classroom sparkplug. He was one of those children who had the ability to really get things going. Noise and laughter entered the room with him. The noise was that of a child who enjoyed being who God had created him to be. He made those around him also enjoy being near him. His behaviour was not always exemplary but when corrected, Kyle quickly became apologetic and would strive to improve in any way he could. He had a smile that could melt the toughest heart and eyes that sparkled with the promise of hours of laughter. Kyle chose to live life and not just let things happen around him. He made things happen.

Miss Hamm said that it was her task to help contain the enthusiasm that marked his entrances and exits from the classroom. He didn’t seem capable of moving quietly into the room, and so his absence is all the more painful. She added, "I would love to hear him come bouncing in right now. Instead God has chosen to have Kyle bounce into His presence. I am sure that Kyle added his voice to those of the angels as he entered heaven. He truly would have been "home" then, in a place where no one will ever ask him to "move more quietly, please" ever again. His enthusiasm can only be matched by the angels’ joy in welcoming him."

Interests
Kyle had a couple of serious interests. One was collecting cars. When Barry told me that he must have three or four hundred cars, I discounted that number by half allowing for a bit of fatherly pride. Then I got to see his room and the basement…, and I would have to say that I think he had about three or four hundred cars! He had one little plastic container which must have held 60 or 70 little miniatures by itself, not to mention those arrayed on his shelves, piled in buckets, or lying in wait for a little ten year old to stir them into action. He had big cars and little cars, racecars and trucks, police cars and fire trucks. He will, in fact, be buried with some of his favourites: a limousine and a Dodge Ram truck.

Another of his interests is more curious. He became quite attached to his clothing. He would find a particular item of clothing and wear it forever. Mrs. Doraty noted that at one point he had a favourite sweater that he would wear whether it was 50 below or 80 above. Regardless of what new item Mom or Dad would get for him, it never appealed as much as his existing wardrobe. He liked to dress up a bit as well, and liked wearing a tie so much that for years when he was little he went to bed with a clip-on tie attached to his pyjamas. Every night he would put it on, and every morning he would take it off. I guess he wanted to be ready to party at any time day or night.

Spiritual Life
Kyle was also a spiritually sensitive child. He knew Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, and his love for God was evident to all. He was often the first to offer to pray for any need, often asking, "Can I pray?" before his teacher had even asked. In the last few days, Barry and Ann have uncovered little doodles from Kyle scattered about the house, and often he would write things like, "I love God."

Kyle had two main prayer concerns in the last year. One of his burdens was for Kevin and Raechel Heffernan whose little girl Mandy died just last Christmas. He prayed in class, and he prayed at night for this family. He felt deeply the hurt that he knew they must feel over the loss of their daughter. I must confess that Kyle was more faithful to the Heffernans than I have been. He also prayed for the unity of his family. He thought the world of his older brother, Matt. He often talked about you, Matt, and wished that he could spend more time with you. He was really happy that he got to spend time with you this past summer. But he also prayed continually that you would be back home and that the family would be together again.

Death
Kyle’s death was even more sudden than his arrival at the Darroch family. He died playing with his friends, the thing he loved to do best. On Friday he had lingered behind in class to finish up some French, a subject he was not looking forward to taking this year. He got it done so that he didn’t have to bring it home. After supper, rather than sitting down to watch a movie, he went to the playground with his friends. He was due back at 8:30 but passed into the presence of the Lord just minutes before. According to the medical examiners, Kyle died of no known cause. His brain simply stopped sending the signals to his heart to beat and his lungs to breathe. It seems clear that God simply chose to take one of His own home to be with Him.