"Murphy was an optimist!"
RIP Evelyn Sothman April 27, 2011 5:05 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of InterestMy friend, my Knoxville "mom," has passed away.
To me she will always be "Mom" Sothman sharing the family’s dinner during my college years. She even brought me along to "family" reunions and gatherings of an unrelated family in LaFollette whom she met at a stay in the stay in the hospital. Evelyn Sothman shared video with me of one of the last caretakers of the Wonderland Hotel at Elkmont. Through her, and that smile she wore, I felt closer to the people and the kindness of East Tennessee.
I miss her. May Trisha, Chris and the rest of the family be happy knowing that their mother brought joy to those around her. My love and condolences to you all.
Doug
I am happy to have seen her recently. She was working the polls during the most recent election and I had a few moments to get a hug and catch up.
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We are all one breath away from the end January 25, 2009 7:23 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Philosophy, PoetryToday I saw a man dying on the side of the road
He lay within sight of trained paramedics, a mere 325 feet
As I came to the scene, parked cars lined the side road dangerously close to the speeding traffic
I criticized whoever allowed their party guests to park so carelessly
I did not know they celebrated a life
As the distance narrowed, my irritation turned to concern
This looked more like a car accident than party
A footfall field away, sirens roared and lights flashed, help was on the way
I pulled the side to clear a path, to my right my worry turned to fight
There in grass, lay a man surrounded by people and one pumped his chest
I do not know what happened to that man
I drove away, I could not help, I’d just be in the way
I did not see his face, he could be someone I knew well, a neighbor, or a stranger
I do not if he breathed again or had his last day
He left my mind as quickly as he entered it
I had no emotional or philosophical response
I did not think of his family nor mine
I simply noted that my CPR training is out of date.
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Don’t waste your life August 17, 2008 1:53 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Philosophy
2comments
Disturbing News of the Day May 29, 2008 11:29 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Mental, News, Of InterestCan you say "psychotherapy?" I knew you could!
A 12-year-old girl has testified in court that she saw her father kill her mother and he then forced her to help dismember the body with a circular saw. [Source, WBIR]
Now that’s some authoritative parenting! I can’t even get my children to sweep the floors! I wonder what that girls career will become. And the grossness continues…
Police said James Hawkins cleaned the saw and returned it to a store where he had obtained it. [Source, WBIR]
…which means someone else bought that circular saw and is cheerfully using it to build their bookshelves in their house. Of course, they’ll never understand why the books seem to rearrange themselves, occasionally jump off the shelf, and exhibit symmetrical book stacking just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.
I don’t get how someone could do this to another human being much less include their child in the act!
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