Stories about Kyle
Hey it's the weekend so no one has work to muddle thru to stay occupied and folks are dropping by to keep us company. On here, keeping us company would mean, tell us some stories. Short or long, funny or sad, recent or old, specific or general. Whatever you got. What do you think of when you think of Kyle?
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I was with Kyle up at the Ambrozy cabin. Kyle was just learning to drive and he was excited to think about getting a new car, but he wanted to be able to drive stick.
At the time, I drive a Subaru Impreza (manual) and offered to teach him.
We ended up doing laps in the big field with Kyle learning to drive stick. It was awesome! He had so much fun learning a new thing, and he was good at it!
I hope I was a part of his liking cars, and I was very proud when he posted about buying his new car not too long ago.
l will miss you, Kyle.
I think of my first trip to the Warren house for Expo and Kyle showing me his Legos. I think they were Bionicles. He was passionate and his enthusiasm was contagious.
I remember when Brian, Kyle, Perry, and Lincoln drove down three and a half hours from Warren to help me move into my first apartment in Columbus. I was totally new to the Midwest.
Turns out I was moving in on the first football game day of the season. I didn't know anything about this Ohio State/Michigan rivalry thing, or that people could get heckled for driving with Michigan plates on game day. After we were done unloading the moving truck, we walked past campus looking for some food. I'll always remember when rowdy drunk folks stumbled out of bars, then, seeing these two kids walking with us, they tried to temporarily pull themselves together and look like adults in front of Kyle and Perry.
I will always remember the early Short-Media/Icrontic LANs where Kyle would run around and and award us Lego pieces based on how we were doing in the game. He'd then build us something with the pieces. Kyle, rest in peace, you will always be the Master Builder to me. Until we meet again.
Aaron and I were hanging out at the Icrontic house (or as my daughter calls it, The NERD House), probably playing DND. Kyle swaggers in with a trenchcoat and hat, looking sauve, with a giant smile. I remember thinking he was pretty young to have that sort of presence. Super large personality.
Kyle walked over to Brian with a sideways grin and confidently asked for some money and the car keys. He rolled a natural 20 in persuasion with a +8 to charisma. Resistance was futile.
About three years ago, Brian, Nicole, Perry and Kyle went camping / roadtriping through most of eastern Canada / US, stopping in Montreal. I was at work but managed to get to a coffee place downtown where they were waiting for me. They wanted to go eat and go for drinks so i brought them to cool places i knew. it was pouring like hell and we were all soaking wet, but laughed and had a good time. After few pints and me teaching them weird / stupid insults in french, we parted way in the metro, where they were standing on the opposite tracks from me. I took this ridiculous pic which still makes me laughs to this day.
When you fly solo for thousands of miles to a country, it can be daunting. To be greeted by a pair of uniquely brilliant children leaves a lasting imprint and instantly feel welcomed like an old family friend (instead of a nerdy, awkward English guy!).
What strikes me is how quickly they grew between my two chances to visit. Kyles striking, determined nature becoming more apparent. Fearless.
I’ve not been able to visit the D for ten years, so have watched him grow up through the strange world of social media. You could see how he just grew and grew into a clearly incredible young man that made everyone around feel welcome, just like he did as a kid.
My heart goes out to the family and this community. Hug someone today.
Brian, Lincoln, Nicole, Perry, please hang tough as Kyle did.
I have so many Kyle stories to tell, I'm having trouble picking ones to share. But this morning as I was taking a shower I think I recalled my favorite story. It's really a series of stories rather than a single one - it was the weekend when Kyle and Ray came through San Francisco on their 'round the country roadtrip in 2015 (I think).
Kyle and Ray were both in rare form on that trip. By the time they got to SF, they had already been on the road for about a week. You could tell Kyle was ready for a short break from being stuck in a car for a week with his Grandpa, and I was there to (briefly) rescue him.
I drove up to the city on the first night and met Kyle by himself at the historic Caffe Trieste. He was drinking coffee and playing Kerbal on his laptop. It was Kyle AF. I sat down and we BS'd for a bit, talked about Kerbal, and space stuff. I could tell it was refreshing for him to have someone younger to talk to.
We later met up with Ray and his friends in Chinatown, North of FiDi where I now work. Ray had just panic-purchased a Nikon DSLR because their older Canon had broken (a decision that was wildly controversial for both Kyle and Brian, for the right reasons). Ray's friend was a local tour guide and was showing us the plaza outside the Chinese cultural center. A cultural dance exhibition was happening and it was beautiful and solemn. The sort of thing you watch in silence out of respect. Ray, with his brand new camera, was anxious to put it to use.
He walks up towards the dancers and just starts... loud talking out of excitement. "WOW! LOOK AT THIS! ISN'T THIS AMAZING, KYLE? LOOK AT THOSE DANCERS THIS IS INCREDIBLE! KYLE COME OVER HERE AND TAKE SOME PICTURES! HEY, KYLE! COME HERE!"
I looked over at Kyle and he looked like he wanted to just blast off into space and never return. He was SO EMBARRASSED and desperately did not want to look like a tourist. Kyle and I just up and peaced right then and walked around the block and resumed talking about nerdy things.
There are so many other moments like that from their short 2 day stop in SF, but I treasured all of them. Kyle and I waling around the Wharf drinking at different coffee shops, and of course, smack talk. I ordered a spicy Chinese dish that was too hot and Kyle was over there taking pics and talking smack. With both of Brian's children, that'll always be the legacy between myself and them - fun, endless smack talk.
Later, after they had hit the road for LA, I heard from Brian that Kyle told him how happy he was that he got a bit of a break and got to hang with a "young person" and got to do some genuinely fun stuff in the city. I was always happy for that. I'm not the best tour guide for people that come to my city, but I was happy to have shown Kyle a proper good SF time.
Kyle and I became very close as a result of that adventure. It was a true bonding experience. I'm gonna miss that kid more than words convey.
One of my favorite stories is when Kyle, right around the age of 4, climbs up on my chest as I'm laying down on couch. He looks up at me with those huge eyes and says, "Seth, I love you." Nearly melted my heart.
this will always be my favorite Halloween. I'll miss ya kid 😥
During my first expo Kyle really wanted me to play games with him and be on his team for things... My memory is a bit hazy, but I believe it was outside during Giant Catan when he ended up being my team captain. Either he was wearing purple or we were the purple team or something like that, and I ended up calling him Purple Captain. I’ve kind of called him that ever since. He’s always been my Purple Captain. I really wanted other people to know that nickname.
He was my little sister’s first love. They sat together under the stars at my wedding and he put his coat around her because she was cold. When he came out to visit us a few years back while on a road trip with his grandfather, they stayed with Dan and me... And he and my sister stayed up all night talking. They’d both grown up and fell in love with other people, but always kept in touch... And I’m so so incredibly glad we got to have him to ourselves for that weekend.
I told my sister that the fact that we’re all so heartbroken means that Kyle was loved so completely and that he lived a lucky life and we were lucky to know him. This young man has friends across the country who are mourning him today, and that speaks more about his character than anything.
Brian, I love you. I love all you guys.
I’ll miss you, Purple Captain.
I want to talk about a few things my son Kyle was passionate about. He was relentlessly excited and unashamed to share it. These are the things he loved. He loved Godzilla. Everything to do with it. The movie, the originals, the new ones, the comics, the figures. Everything. When a new Godzilla announcement was made, that was our thing. We would go to the movie. We would buy the thing. We would be giddy about it. We both knew how bad most of it was, but he loved it so much it was contagious.
Kyle was passionate about music. He was SO excited about the new Blink-182 album. He was THRILLED to go to the concert. Every day since the new album came out I've been getting a message with a link to the Blink song he was listening to at the moment.
He was absolutely obsessed with learning how to play bass and guitar. He had gotten a copy of Rocksmith, and I took him to Guitar Center to buy his first guitar, an experience I loved deeply. He was almost jumping out of his skin with excitement. We ran back to his apartment and he started plinking and strumming all kinds of awkward sounds out of it, vamping with it, pretending like he was shredding. He couldn't WAIT to learn. He began learning it. He practiced obsessively and every time he learned a new lick he would send me a video of it and he would be like "Guess the song" and it was so bad and awkward I could never get it right but he would tell me anyway. But he got better and better until one night he sent me a video and I knew the song. I said "That's Muse" (a band he loved). He was like "YES".
Kyle was passionate about cars. His entire teenage years were spent obsessing over cars, specs, what car he was gonna get, what cars he hated, what car other people had. By the time he was 19 he had gone through like 4 different cars. He bought them, he sold them, he traded them. His most recent car was his proudest purchase. He bought a new car by himself with his own money. It was a stick-shift 2019 Toyota and he was just absolutely in love with it. He brought it over to me the night he got it and we went for a (very proud) ride.
Kyle was, maybe more than everything else, obsessed with Space. He was obsessed with SpaceX and followed Elon Musk's shenanigans religiously. He went to Space Camp twice as a younger kid. He wore his flight suit to school throughout middle and high school—didn't care if kids made fun of him, or if it fit—that was just the kind of personality he had. His brute-force optimism about space was contagious. Any time SpaceX did ANYTHING, he was messaging me: Did you see? Did you hear? His heart belonged to the stars.
I love Kyle to the very core of my being and I am now fundamentally broken without him. Please keep the people you love in your hearts tonight. I do not know how to live on without my precious son, but I must. He would make fun of me for being too mushy.
I first met Kyle and his brother when they were just wee ones (maybe 2 or 3?) not long after reconnecting with his parents at a local Buddhist temple. Over the years, I got to watch him grow and find himself as a person. I remember when I worked at his mom's coffee shop and he'd ride his bike up to have a hot chocolate and talk about things like school or girls, draw, or read a book from his favourite series, which I think at the time was Warriors (I remember it has cats in it). I remember how stoked he was about going to space camp the first time. I remember how shy he could be, but also how warm and honest he was when he got to know you. I remember how mature he seemed for his age, probably because of the way his parents raised him and all the adults he was constantly around from Icrontic and his parents' friends in general, all of whom treated him like an adult and part of the group. I remember how much he loved his older brother, how he was sometimes jealous of him but also how much he looked up to him. I remember him telling me stories of their shenanigans and laughing. I remember how surprised I was each time I visited and saw how much he and his brother had grown and how much he resembled his dad while his brother looked so much like his mother. But most of all, I remember how I thought both Kyle and his brother were some of the best damn kids I'd ever seen and truly enjoyed their company, which is saying a lot because I'm not really a huge fan of kids; and I feel privileged to have been a small part of his short but amazing life.
When I came out to help with some Sullivan House renovations, I wanted to also go to the library to research some history of the house. Kyle was at the house and I asked if he wanted to join me, he said "Sure!" It was a major bonding moment for us. I'm not sure if he was bored and it was more fun than staying at the house, or he was genuinely interested in learning something new, but he took a great interest in helping me at the library and learning how to do historical house research in the archives. Kyle was such a laid back kid with a huge heart, a lot like his dad. ❤️ The following new year's he was my midnight "kiss" (on the cheek) and he was so cute about it. He gave the classic 👍 after it. Haha.
Brian, you raised an amazing young man and I feel fortunate to have known him, and the world is fortunate to have had him in it. I'm so deeply sorry this happened and sending so much love.
Edit: found a message I sent him about our NYE Kiss from 2013.
I remember the only lan at the Warren house I ever attended. All these adults were trying to construct buckets as part of the duct tape challenge. And the children led by Kyle made the only container that actually held water. Kyle just beamed with pride that was only matched by the pride his dad showed.
Brian, I truly feel for you as you did for me when I lost my one and only. My love is with you and Kyle. And I totally agree with everyone else who says you raised an amazing young man.
I had only just met Brian in-person. It was around 2003, though we'd crossed paths on the forums a few times since 2000. We met because I desperately wanted to see and test a brand new AMD Opteron processor (which was, in hindsight, profoundly portentous as I've been a 10-year employee of AMD). Brian's company, Sarcnet, had ordered just such a CPU as it was chewing up the benchmarks and was difficult to ignore for any hosting provider.
Some time later, if memory serves, Brian was moving out of his house to take up residence in the famous Warren house. Kyle would have been very young, then. Perhaps 4? Young enough that my brain wants to cast him as a infant in my recollection of this event. Brian and I were friends by then, or, at the very least, my presence was regularly tolerated. We'd stopped by the house to get something, or do something, and Brian's just like: "Wait here; I'll be fast." It was a brief errand before the pre-Warren house was handed off for good.
There I sat. Alone in the car, with baby Kyle, contemplating the trust this practical stranger had just placed in me. Brian and I had not known each other for very long, but looking at Kyle in the back seat I often recall the feeling of being awestruck by the faith placed in me not to do something bad or stupid. Hell, I was 16 or 17 at the time and kids are stupid at that age.
But Kyle, oblivious to the drama, gave me a stupid "oh, okay, I guess ur my dad now" face. I smiled at him through the mirror in the passenger sun visor. He smiled back. The birds chirped and the sun peeked through wispy clouds.
He was a cute kid. He became a good man.
I've known Kyle since I was 10 years old. I met him through my sister, after she posted on his Facebook about how her little sister was asking so many questions about the boy in the pictures surrounded by a bunch of crazy adults. He replied, "oh snap" and his father followed right after with, "ಠ_ಠ ". Fitting, on all parties.
We first started talking about six months later, give or take. I actually remember the exact day. January 11, 2013. I was 11 now and he was 13. I misspelled my "hello" because I was so nervous to talk to him and ended up sending him "he'll". I panicked and said it was meant for someone else and I thought I messed everything up, over one simple word. But I didn't. He came back with a "'Tis quite alright" and I was smitten from then on out.
Within a couple hours, I knew about his mom and dad and how he and his dad went for midnight snacks at a place called American Coney Island, how his step-mom took him to the local coffee shop. I learned about Icrontic and how those weren't just "crazy adults" but the best people you could ever know. I learned about his love for space and how he wanted to live on Mars. Learned about his love for reading and drawing and yes, riding his bike. Ten days later we were writing a story together.
I was 12 years old, so close to being 13, when we finally met. He was 15. We saw each other, but we didn't say a word. I think we were way too nervous to even look in the other's direction. It was actually kind of funny, watching us avoid each other. Our groups parted and we went straight to Snapchat, talking like nothing happened. We decided to try again. The next time I saw him, I was in a barn setting up spoons and he was in the middle of the room holding a bag of exactly what I needed, looking very very lost. I ran by him, grabbed them from his hands, and ran off again, but this time he followed. We were together for the rest of the weekend. We walked all over the farm, we talked about Doctor Who and books and a bunch of other things I cannot remember now. We had an epic duel with towels. He showed me the stars.
I think these moments, especially the early ones, were such a testament to his character. He was kind, he was charismatic, he was smart, he was so mature for his age and, as little 11 year old me gushed to my sister about, he talked so cool!
It was no secret that we loved each other, not even to us. Whatever kind it was, a simple childhood crush or something that could have been more, we loved each other. It was pure and we were happy to have one another as friends. I just wish I could have told him.
To my oldest friend.
I will see you in the stars.
Kyle was passionate about music. He was SO excited about the new Blink-182 album. He was THRILLED to go to the concert. Every day since the new album came out I've been getting a message with a link to the Blink song he was listening to at the moment.
Blink headlined the TwitchCon party tonight. It was my first time seeing them live. I spent the evening being full of youthful nostalgia hearing the songs I grew up idolizing, finally seeing them performed live. For as hard as the last 24 hours have been for me, that concert was incredibly restorative for me. In a major time of darkness, I needed it.
It warms my heart to know that Kyle would have loved that show as much as I did, if not more. Completely changed my perspective of tonight. Thank you for sharing this detail about an artist he was excited about.
@Teramona
There are 5 memories that stick out with that kid. The first (and only) time I baby sat. Brain and Tracey went somewhere and I asked what if he poops. Brain said he probably won't but if he does just change him, Fast forward and hour and OMG green shit everywhere. The kid was so sick that night, and to change him was something that would burn your nostrils. Brain and Tracey come home and say how was it. "I hate you both" and abruptly left.
The 2nd was the night Kyle stepped on a toothpick. Kyle and Perry went up to bed and Brian and I where in the kitchen. We heard a ruckus up stairs and Brian yelled up "Go to bed!" As he said multiple times on multiple occasions. I think after the 2nd or third yell, Perry yells back, "Kyle stepped on something!" He bring kyle down with a small piece of toothpick in his foot. I sat with Perry on the couch to calm him down and Brian proceeds to pull what we thought was a small sliver out. Welp, it kept coming and coming and it was the whole damn toothpick in his foot.
The 3rd is when I came over during the day and both boys said "Aw we don't want to go to bed yet" OMG that was funny. I used to come over every night and it was just about there bed time. I guess they associated me with bed time.
The 4th is a simple memory, But I remember Thom Kondolf sitting out on the porch with Kyle teaching him "In the City" by Stevie wonder. Thom having a ball and Kyle laughing and playing along.
The 5th, Their was one time Brian, Perry , Kyle and I met up at Cloverleaf in Eastpointe. By far the best conversation with these boys. Grown up and having talked about life and how they saw it. It was just a good time.
From the days of diapers and no shirts till now both Kyle and Perry made a profound difference in my life. They made be a better father and not to have Kyle with us anymore rips me pieces. He was such a kind soul, I loved him very much. And I guess they only way to truly remember him is to think how I could be a little more like Kyle.
I remember talking my parents into this crazy idea of driving all the way up from Missouri to some guy on the internet's house for a "LAN" party. "WTF is a LAN party?" I remember a big "it's probably ok" moment was when I mentioned Brian was a father of 2 sons so he was probably not devoid of responsible instincts. I then just had to convince @Canti to join me since he had the car. What a good decision it turned out to be.
The first few people I met when I get there is none other than @pigflipper and Kyle and Perry. I remember instantly feeling at home.
I think the most significant time I spent with Kyle during that LAN was messing around with the SPORE creature creator that had just been released. We just laughed at all the goofy alien designs we could come up with. Kyle always had that spark of creativity that was just wonderful to be around.
As I've aged a bit I've had the chance to meet many people. Some of them you forget, some you wish you hadn't met, and then there's people like the Ambrozy's. And you count yourself very lucky to have spent any time at all with them. Not having more time with Kyle is absolutely shattering.
The first time I met Kyle was at my very first lan. He and Perry were camping in the backyard to be with everyone else. Kyle took a shine to me, and very sweetly asked me to sleep with him. As a kid of 9 or 10, of course all he meant was go camping with him in the backyard. I teased him about this for ages, and always joked that I'd tell that story in a toast at his wedding.
I first met Kyle at the 07 LAN (and then again in 2-3 following events). I, much like others, distinctly remember him building cool Lego awards and creations and showing them off. I thought that was awesome, wish I would have taken some photos of them.
Most of all, I remember at the 08 LAN playing with Kyle for a bit during some down time and really thinking about how "grounded" he seemed for his age.
I remember thinking Kyle was so fun and Brian is doing such a good job being the cool dad, and one day when I have kids I hope do as good of a job as he was doing.
❤️
Piggybacking off @UPSLynx SF story...
The same trip involved passing through Oklahoma City the night before I had to fly to Seattle for three weeks of training. Ray, Kyle, and I had dinner at the local Ethiopian restaurant. I don’t recall what we talked about but I know it was a good time. Over the last four years I have given @primesuspect endless amounts of teasing about how they stopped there and how he missed out on good food but it’s now a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I'll just put this out there now so you can plan ahead: We're going to Florida in July 2020 to watch that rocket go up.
I never met Kyle. I don't think I even ever talked to him, across the divide of Social media. But I sure as hell read a lot about him. His escapades with his grandpa, which I'm sure made him batty, but hid a close and unbreakable affection, and masked a loving camaraderie, and indelible connection across a generation. He seemed madcap, devil-may-care and totally at ease in his own skin. His Grandpa would rib him, and throw the odd occasional "insult" but of course, that was simply another way of telling Kyle he loved him.
I disappeared off Fb for a while, and it's a mark of how attentive Kyle was that, if I rightly recall, he asked his dad whatever had happened to me. So, even across the Atlantic, even though I never directly connected with him, even though I just knew him anecdotally, and through photos, he noticed me. And that is just one of this young man's remarkable qualities. And it's a mark of just what an impact he made in people's' lives, that this thread is so full of wonderful words, praise, tears, sadness, happiness and eulogies, because he was a guy who noticed. He saw, he heard, he understood, and he took it all in, and he acted on it, with deep humanity, love, commitment and generosity. But you probably wouldn't know it to look at him, and how he behaved.
I can't be there on Thursday. But I have asked to be represented, because in all the time I've known Brian, I've seen both Kyle and Perry grow, and I've seen a bond between these three that just shames the rest of us. Their closeness and mutual respect, admiration and affection is frankly matchless and defies eulogies.
Stay close, people. Celebrate, enjoy life and grab each moment together, and never let go.
Such an event serves to demonstrate how precious and wonderful you all are.
Thank you all for reading thus far, and indulging a poor Brit's reminiscences. You are all so lucky to have connected personally with Kyle, and I both envy and applaud it. But that he touched my life (and I am in tears, right now) is a measure of just how grand - huge - his heart was.
I will absolutely be there for the rocket launch.