The Brevity of Life

Our school has had to face another onslaught of grief today, so soon after Calvin's tragic death. Last night, 17 year old Kyla Kowalik passed away. She'd just returned home from the hospital after a surgery to repair her anterior cruciate ligament. All had gone well, and her mother had gone to inform her friends that Kyla was healthy and would be back in school soon. Then her mother went out for lunch with a close friend. While she was gone, Kyla suffered a bilateral pulmonary embolism, and collapsed on her way down the stairs. Her mother's lunch was interrupted by a terrible phone message: Kyla was dead.

I can't claim to be Kyla's best friend, but her cheerful, helpful attitude and ready smile were infectious, easily making her a friend to many, if not all the people she encountered in her short time on this earth. She was the sort of person you couldn't help but love. Many times, in my daily travel through the halls, I'd pass her by, and seldom would she miss offering me a smile or a bright hello. She was always there to grab the door for me, help me put my things in my backpack after class, or give me a push through the halls. She didn't let the leg brace she needed to wear stop her from giving me a push to class or the library. She always made you feel warm inside when she so freely offered her kindness to anyone she came across.

I remember last year in gym class there was a unit on kickboxing that I couldn't participate in, and I was dreading having to spend the next few weeks of class alone in the weight room feeling down. But the day the unit started, there was Kyla. She cheerfully told me that she had a spare when I had gym, and that she'd decided to come and hang out with me in the weight room and help me so I wouldn't be all alone. That was true Kyla, always willing to offer whatever she had for someone else. I can't believe she's gone.

God seems to really be anxious to get the best of His children back to Him, first with Calvin and now with Kyla. She was a blessing wherever she went, always looking beyond herself to people in need of a little sunshine. She left a void in our hearts and lives when she departed so suddenly. Her empty desk left the classroom a much darker place, creating a space that no other person could fill. I can't understand why this happened, but I thank God for her life, for the countless people she touched, and for the gift of being one of them. Her bright, optimistic spirit and constant smile will be sadly missed. Kyla's kind deeds often made me think she was too good for this world, and I guess that was true. God needed her loving spirit with Him, and had to cut her earthly life short. There are many tears being shed for Kyla, but where she is, there is only joy.