Kaelan Shallow

Kaelan Shallow was born in Atlanta, Georgia on August 25th, 1994. He was welcomed into the world by his parents, Gale and Michael Shallow, his sisters, Parvati and Sodashi Shallow, grandparents, aunts, uncles and myriads of cousins.

Kaelan passed away November 11, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Kaelan was a vivacious, joyful child - full of life’s energy and a mischievous playful spirit. Kaelan carried that spirit with him throughout his life.

He loved his friends, cooking & sharing good food, animals, and seemed most at home hiking in the woods, climbing mountains, camping, and spending time in nature.

Kaelan had a keen intellect, a wonderful sense of humor, and a deeply honest way of seeing and being in the world.

He cared deeply about the people he knew and loved and who befriended him along his journey through life. He gave the best hugs.

Kaelan was a talented musician. He could hear a song on the radio, pick up the guitar, and play the song. Over the years he played a variety of instruments including guitar, ukulele, banjolini, mandolin, upright bass, and keyboard. He had a love of the unique and unusual. He enriched our lives every time he shared the new bands and songs he loved along with his own musical creations.

Kaelan earned a black belt in Tae Kwan Do and the Arrow of Light award in Cub Scouts.  In his earlier years he loved skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, catch and release fishing, and riding bikes.

Kaelan graduated from High School in Johns Creek. He attended Northview High, Johns Creek High, and completed his education at Eaton Academy in Roswell, Georgia.

Kaelan was deeply loved by his family – including his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He spent many summertime weeks with his grandparents, relatives, and friends in Colebrook, NH at the farm and in Pittsburg, NH.  He had many wonderful visits to see his West Coast grandparents and cousins in California.

Kaelan’s love of adventure took him on a journey across the U.S. and into Canada. He traveled in many unorthodox ways: hitchhiking, riding freight trains and meeting like-minded people doing the same. His travels took him through places many of us will never see - to almost every state in the U.S. and many of the provinces of Canada. He met people he would never have met and made many great friendships and lasting bonds along the way.

It was amazing to hear his stories. He talked about the kindness and graciousness of the strangers who helped him along the way during his travels. He shared tales of the ingenuity, daring, and perseverance that he and his fellow travelers used to work through some crazy situations.

Kaelan had a long and difficult struggle with addiction which he attempted to overcome many times. His trials, battles, and hardships opened our eyes to his incredible depth of feeling and the compassion required to support other individuals and their loved ones who are impacted by this dis-ease.

Kaelan spent his last year in Toronto. He loved Canada and Canadians and made some wonderful and special friendships while he was there.  He felt cared for, supported, and loved by the harm reduction community there – and believed in the work they are doing to support people who were struggling as he did. We have included a link in this memorial to enable anyone who wishes to do so to contribute to one of the organizations in Canada that support harm reduction.

Kaelan knew truly what it means to empathize, to love, and to love unconditionally. If you needed him and he was able to, he’d be there for you. He had the courage to have the hard conversations in life that show true maturity and growth and he didn’t hide his feelings. He was a good man.

Kaelan is survived by his mother and father and sisters who miss him deeply and are grateful for the time we had with him and all the joy, pain, challenge, struggle and compassion he brought us through the years. Our lives and the lives of all he touched are richer for Kaelan’s presence.