Intuitive, conscientious, witty, inspiring, poetic, warm
Kyle was born into this world with an old soul and a young spirit. As a child, he possessed infinite amounts of energy, always getting into things and learning quickly how to do things for himself. He didn’t speak until the age of three when he said to his mother, “You know, Mom, there are other worlds.” His mother, Robin, says she truly believes he was from another world. As a young boy, Kyle developed a keen and witty sense of humor that always kept his friends and family laughing. He was very observant and had a knack for being able to sense other people’s feelings and tune into them, which made people feel understood and safe around him. His lifelong best friend since kindergarten, Travis, said that Kyle had an uncanny ability to understand things that others didn’t.
Kyle channeled a lot of his energy into sports like street hockey, water skiing, swimming, biking, and rugby, which he played in high school, college, and after, acquiring many bruises, bloody noses, and a dislocated elbow. Kyle also had an immense love for reading and music. Until the age of 13, Kyle and his mom Robin would read books together, which built the foundation for Kyle’s love of reading and writing throughout his life. He was particularly proud of his collection of 500 CDs, consisting mostly of American roots and alternative music. Around the age of 12, Kyle taught himself how to play the guitar and, later, the dobro, which he played in the band Dylan Cannon and the Wound Lickers after college.
Growing up, Kyle had an anxiety disorder. Although people liked him, he had underlying anxiety about how people perceived him. This led him to start self-medicating with alcohol in high school, which eventually spiraled into alcoholism. After graduating high school in 2000, he studied English at U.C. Berkeley.
Kyle had to work extra hard to get his diploma after withdrawing from school to work on his sobriety. It was difficult, but his perseverance, dedication, and writing talent kept him going until he graduated in 2009. After graduating, he worked at law firms as a corporate mergers conflicts of interest analyst. During this time, his opiate dependency progressed to a point where he had to leave the firm and return home to work on his recovery.
Prior to his passing, he lived in a cottage in the Woodside Hills, where he spent his free time playing music and reading. He loved to take his girlfriend on hikes and bike rides around the bay area. His mother recalls that in the last months of his life Kyle was exhausted and emotionally raw. He tried to quit opioid use without accepting the aid of Suboxone, which could have saved him. She says that the hardest part of loving someone with an addiction disorder is the thought of losing them and the helplessness you experience being powerless to help them. Kyle’s passing helped her to realize what is important in life: loving deeply and feeling everything fully. Robin continues to make her son proud by dedicating herself as an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery. She has written a novel about addiction and is now writing a second one about finding the road to recovery through spiritual awakening.
Kyle’s mother and father, Robin and Bruce Dosskey, provided the information for this narrative.
Oct. 23, 1981- Nov. 18, 2019
Age 38 -Lived with the disease of addiction for 20 years.
