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Because he had such strict parents, however, Kale did find himself without many friends for a long time in elementary and middle school. It wasn't because he had a hard time making them, because being the outspoke class clown sort made it so most people wanted to be his friend, it was because he was almost never allowed to do anything. Most days if he wanted anything from his parents, he would have to practice and recite his questions in fron of the mirror, then memorize answers to follow up questions his parents may have had. He'd wait until they seemed like they were in good moods, or do something extra nice for them (like clean the dishes and make sure the cap was on the toothpaste the right way) in hopes that they recognized these small acts of kindness as worthy reasons to let him out of the house for a few hours. Even now he still jokes about what it was like growing up with strict parents that always made him drink milk with his dinner and seemed to know everything about his friends and their parents, too. It paid off throughout the years. Kale's parents kept him engaged for many of his formative years, enrolling him in after school activities (of their choosing, of course), choosing what sports he would excell at (anything but football), and making sure he was a successful member of society. By the time he was a senior in high school, he had been on student council twice, prom court his junior year, head of the video game club his sophomore year, literary mag his junior year, and mixed media arts his senior year. Then things began to change within the dynamic of the family. What was once a generally outgoing household turned into a quiet, eerie zone when his mother got sick. For many months, Kale was kept in the dark about her illness, but when she wasn't able to attend a couple of his soccer games due to medical reasons, his parents thought it was best to finally tell him the truth. From then on, Kale promised to stay out of trouble, to mind his father, and to help out when and where he could. That was how he first began selling his art. He was only a high school kid, not an outrageously talented one, but he was expressive enough to get his point across on canvas. For silent auctions at their church, or small fundraising sales on weekends, he would sell off anything he'd ever worked on and offer the money to his parents to put towards his mothers hospital bills. Once he was out of high school, despite the small stack of college acceptance letters he had recieved, Kale chose to stay at home with his family and help where he could. His mother's deteriorating state made it hard for him to go out of state for school, but after so long, it also made it very hard for him to stay at home, too. This was the time he sort of began falling into a bad crowd. Not the drugs, not the booze and fast women, but he was mostly seen buddying up to street artists and making his mark across Long Island with his own style of grafitti. Eventually his mothers cancer went into remission and he felt comfortable going away to school the following year. Although he hated the idea of leaving his mother behind, Kale chose to go out of state and settled in at Becker College three years after he initially graduated from high school. For the first few months, it took some getting used to, but just as he was beginning to settle in, tragedy shook the Raynor household and his mother lost her battle with cancer when it came back very suddenly and very aggressively. The months following the lost of his mother, Kale would take a trip home every weekend to see his father. This was how he met the girl that would pick up the pieces and try to make him whole again. She was an NYU student and he fell hard for her, barely making it back to his family home during the weekends he spent with her. This was what seemed to be the beginning of the end for what was left of the relationship he had with his father. This being the worst year on record for him, naturally things only got worse from then on. Once he and his father began falling apart, he and his girlfriend began fighting too. Even though they weren't together as much as he would have actually liked, he felt suffocated and stopped visiting on some weekends. Their conversations were few and far between and just like his relationship with his father, a rift was created between himself and Alex, as well. Then the unfortunate happened and she was gravely injured in a mugging that Spring. Two days later, with Kale finally at her side, she passed away from severe internal injuries. Kale stopped visiting after that. He and his father only communicate during holidays and birthdays respectively and have taken to talking over the phone rather than getting together on the weekends. Although both tragedies struck many years ago, they're still very fresh in his mind and he tries to avoid talking about them at all costs. One thing he has kept up with was the art he used to make to help fund his mothers hospital bills. While he doesn't talk about what it is he has created and what the proceeds go to, he still draws, and paints, and designs with her in mind.  Given the "last" Green Lantern Power Ring after the destruction of the Green Lantern Corps. Before he acquired a Green Lantern ring, Kyle Rayner was a struggling but gifted freelance graphic artist. He lived and worked in Los Angeles initially. After Hal Jordan, grief-stricken over the destruction of his home town of Coast City, went on a mad rampage, killing the entire Green Lantern Corps and most of the Guardians of the Universe who oversee the Corps, Rayner was found by Ganthet, the last surviving Guardian, and given the last GL power ring, the powerful weapon wielded by each Green Lantern that allows them to conjure any form of matter or energy solely by their willpower. Ganthet's reasons for choosing Kyle to bear the ring have never been made completely apparent, aside from Rayner having been in the right place at the right time. see more about this beautiful human being right here 
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