Based on the life of:
Max Lechner
2000 - 2011
Benefitting the Charity: The Compassionate Friends -www.tcf.org.uk
Anna, Katy's Mum P6/7A
I remember when Max's mum would pick him up from school, he was so happy she was there, waving and shouting.
I always thought what a nice greeting that must be and how much he must love her to be so openly delighted to see her after just a school day's separation - it'd be nice if my kids were so pleased to see me!
Robert, Hannah's Dad P5/6A
One story we will never forget was the time of Hannah's 6th birthday party out at the Soft Bear Centre. It was the week before Christmas and there was a Santa's Grotto. The kids had all been playing quite happily downstairs when I noticed that Max was not there. So by chance I went upstairs to the Grotto and sure enough, there was Max sitting with Santa telling him all the things he wanted for Christmas and that he had been a good boy all year so he was bound to get all the things he wanted, right Santa??
Obviously Max didn't realise that you had to pay for the privilege of meeting Santa and receiving your gift, so I nipped downstairs, purchased a ticket and handed it to Max who took great delight in handing it over to Santa. Santa in turn handed a gift over to Max. Max had the biggest grin imaginable on his face and away he went as happy as Larry.
Every time I bumped into Max after that, whether it be at the school football, school fair or summer Gala, he always spoke, said Hello and thanked me for buying him the ticket that day. He never forgot and always was grateful. A lovely boy!
We all know that some kids don't even reply to you when spoken to, not Max, he always had a smile on his face and had something to say.
Tracey, Jack's Mum
As part of our Smarties fundraiser in 2011 I went from class to class dropping off bags of Smarties for the children. All the kids were excited and noisy at the prospect of the sweets, but my lasting memory is of Max - who came running after me as I left his class shouting "Jack's mum!"
I stopped and turned around and he gave me a big hug and said " thank you for the sweets."
His spontaneous acknowledgement of the "gift" was so touching.
I've always had a soft spot for Max because of how nice he was to Jack since joining P1; this confirmed my view.
Eilidh's Family
Max was such a happy friendly and cheerful little boy. His shouts of "Hi Eilidh" across the school playground always made us smile. Eilidh thinks he was always the "happiest person at the school" !
Whether we saw him on the beach, at school or splashing about in the swimming pool at Kippie, he was always having fun. Eilidh remembers on the beach in Portugal in October 2011, Max had a cup of water which was knocked out of his hand just as he was saying "I have a cup of ..." and then him shouting "oi" and for the rest of the time on the beach everyone, especially Max, was laughing about him having a cup of "oi"!!
Another recent memory of Max was the fun he was having playing with the sparklers in the Gove's back garden on Guy Fawkes night. As usual his laugh made everyone else smile too.
We'll always remember him very fondly and with a smile.
Debbie, Katy's Mum
It is difficult to think of just one story about Max as I think we all have so many of them.
He was a very special boy who knew so many people and once you knew him you couldn't help but love him, he was truly one of a kind.
Max always had a smile for everyone in the years that I knew him. I cannot ever recall seeing him down or sad.
Katy reminded me of the day I collected her from the Blue Unit and Max had been on his end of term day out with the Yellow Unit. He came charging into the corridor bursting with all his news of the day. We listened and laughed with him. He had been given a goody bag by the staff and holding it out said; "This is for you Katy."
Of course we couldn't take it but this gesture sums up Max's character for us, kind, generous and always happy to share.
Dylan's Family
Firstly, at the 2011 Westhill Football Gala lots of Cults parents had taken sweets and cakes and goodies ( you can see we took the competition seriously!) and Molly said that Max went around helping himself to everything ( I am not sure his parents perhaps knew the extent of his gatherings!). He also nagged Jeff silly for a hamburger. He kept saying " Jeff can I get a burger? " and Jeff ( his football coach) would say " Yes, I will get you one Max but not right now" Jeff was still organising the team for games!
Max never let up and Jeff didn't give in and bought one for him when the time was appropriate, i.e. at the end of all their games.
In terms of competitions, Dylan was lucky enough to be in the winning team with Max in the Cults Gala in 2010 - Dylan said Max was just soooo excited at winning his trophy!!
A couple of my own personal memories of Max are firstly in the early years of their football Max would quite often wander from his game to see how the other Cults team of the same age group were doing. He always came over to tell us if he scored and he would just be beaming ( regardless if the scoreline was not flattering to Cults!).
I think you will probably find that you could write a wee book on Max based on all the memories people will be able to share with you. It's just terrible that we find ourselves in this very sad situation.
We had some friends over yesterday from Westhill. The husband coached the Westhill P5 football team in 2011 and said that at a New Year gathering many of the parents of that P5 Westhill team were at the party and remember Max vividly and commented on his love of the game, his huge happy smile and general cheeriness and always saying hello to everyone. No disrespect to the other Cults children but we don't think these parents would remember any of the other children - Max was just so charismatic.
Our friend also said he noticed Max supported all Cults teams at the Westhill Gala even when his own team had been knocked out in previous rounds. Our friends only met him a few times at a few of Dylan's birthday parties and through football but he made an impression and this is not unique - such is the depth of the love and affection everyone had for Max.
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