Getting Ready to...Go

We're leaving for the airport in four hours. I haven't posted for several days. Last Sunday was the Unveiling of Kyle's headstone, so we were pretty consumed with that, then exhausted for a day or two once it was over, and here it is Thursday morning, March 31.

There were over 100 people at the unveiling. It didn't rain. Jhos compared Kyle to Moses. He said the Passover story chronicles the transformation of Moses from an angry young man into a Messianic leader who changed the world. Moses, who led his people to the Promised Land but never reached it himself. Persis read a poem, I described how we arrived at the artwork on the headstone, and a little about how Chris chiseled every letter with great love and care. We read a blessing, then Niko cut the veil, and we stood huddled, taking in my son's name, the artwork from his tattoo, and his own optimistic words, "And I believe in 'one person can make a difference,' because if everybody believed they couldn't, nothing would ever change." And then hidden on the back of the stone, in fine slightly ephemeral letters, "Sweet sweet Kyle." Sarah and Tim played the stunning, beautiful, piercing song they wrote for us a few months ago, I Need a Boat (lyrics posted on www.sweetsweetkyle.blogspot.com). I met Tim on the day I moved into the dorms at UC Santa Cruz my freshman year. He had his door ajar and was playing dulcimer at his desk. We ended up being RAs together the next year and then were housemates off campus for several years. Hasmig spoke next, and after a tribute to Kyle, asked all the students going on the Trip to step forward. She explained how we will be fulfilling Kyle's dream, but that we also want to take some of the community with us. We passed out slips of paper and pens so that each person could write a word or blessing for us to take to Israel with us. Jhos was so moved when he saw all the students step forward that he asked them all to come back and place a hand on Kyle's headstone. He led a the entire audience in a chant to hold the beat, then he launched into a spontaneous, singing blessing over all the travelers. It was spectacular. A couple days later, Ben told me, "Jhos is awesome. He like went totally freestyle on us!"

When I was in college, our good friend, Danny Weiss, played African Drums. Tim and I used to joke that he was the only Jewish guy we knew with rhythm. Jhos makes two.

Last Friday, I spoke with Kyle's good friend, Max. Max has been living in Tel Aviv since last summer. Kyle was to join him this summer. They called each other brothers. Max was worried that we might be having second thoughts about the trip because of the recent bombing in Jerusalem and the rockets being fired from Gaza. He reassured me that there really is no danger to speak of. He said he was, that moment, visiting his uncle and aunt in the south about 20 km from Gaza. He said, even when there are bombings, he still feels totally safe in Israel. "I feel safer walking around at night here then I do in Berkeley."