Out of the Darkness Shines a Light

Tragedy struck my neighborhood in November.  Kyle Underhill was murdered.  He was 18 years old.  Kyle was found behind the elementary school my daughter once attended a few blocks from our home.  Things like this don't happen here.  It was terrifying.  So many questions.  Who was this boy? What happened?  Why?  My thoughts went to his family.  My God...I cannot imagine a loss of this magnitude.

In the days that followed, I found out about this boy I never met in life.  Everyone who knew him had such wonderful stories about him.  I learned that Kyle had a kind heart and was wise beyond his years.  He worked hard at two jobs and was a freshman in college who studied psychology.  It was important to me that these things that defined Kyle Underhill in life be the things that are remembered, not just the way he died.

Kyle's friends were stunned, confused and devastated.  I thought back to to when I was their age.  It would have been so easy to get angry about what happened and act out.  But that's not what Kyle's friends did. 

The place where Kyle was found was a wooded, poorly lit place.  My husband grew up here and when he was a teenager, it was where kids would go drink.  Years later there were rumors of gang activity...and now this.  Chris Cutrone, one of Kyle's good friends, never wanted this to happen again.  To honor Kyle's memory, Chris and a few other friends put together a petition to install street lights.  The theory being that if this place was well-lit, it would be less atractive to people who were up to no good.

Word of the petition get around to our community watch group.  We invited Chris and his friends to our group's meeting where everyone signed.  In attendance were local government officials and they put this project on the fast track to completion.  One month later, not only were street lights installed but trees were cut back and brush was cleared.

As of today, the investigation is still active.  No arrests have been made.  The question "Why?" still hasn't been answered.  To be honest, I don't think there will ever be a complete answer to that question.  But thanks to one small voice of a good friend, Kyle leaves a legacy of light. Illuminating the darkness, lights provide protection to our community.  That's how Kyle lived his life.  What a fine tribute to his memory.