» On 3/11/2025 11:40:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
R.I.P. Michael Thompson (1951 - 10 Mar 2025; Age 74). 

We called him Sri Mikey. He was a Seeker and lived in a yoga house for several years. He taught me to say The Sufi Prayer at mealtimes. I can still recite it from memory: "All life is one / and everything that lives is holy: / plants, animals, and beings. / All must eat to live / and to nourish one another. / We bless the lives that have died / to give us food. / Let us eat consciously, / resolving by our work / to pay the debt of our existence./ -Amen." Earlier, he and I were workout partners on the Chelmsford [MA] HS track team. We were fairly evenly matched, but he was always just a little bit faster. His first fiancée died suddenly, and I attended the funeral to support him. His father was walking with me, as we went to our seats in the church. Mike was in front of us, and he reached back to take my hand. Dr. Thompson misunderstood, and grabbed Mike's hand instead. It was a lovely moment. Mike had been estranged from his Dad for a long time, and this was the perfect way for them to reconnect. Mike pulled me aside later, saying, "That was weird." I replied, "Yeah. Weird, but wonderful." Sri Mikey subsequently married a woman at Cathedral Rock in Sedona Arizona, which is supposedly the site of one of the town's famous Vortexes. The marriage didn't last very long, and I lost track of him for many years. When we found each other again, he was living with a political powerhouse. Julia O'Connell led the resistance against monochloramine implementation by the Kittery [ME} Water District, and was elected to the entity's board of trustees. Anikó and I went to visit them, during our first post-Covid vacation. They looked very happy together, and I was relieved that Mike had finally found a lasting love. A few years afterwards, he and I went through our respective Prostate Tortures at more or less the same time. It looked like his results were a bit better than mine, and I envied him. But he had a weak heart, and it finally gave out last night, at home with Julia.

1969: CHS yearbook (above)
1958 (circa): The Thompson brood - Mike is holding the baby
1980: Mike & Ed Withycombe, Marblehead [MA]
2019 Nov: Julia & Mike, Kittery [ME]
2021 Jul: Julia, me & Mike, Kittery Point [ME]
2023 Dec: Nice pants!






Also: Chris Worth.

Labels: mt

 
» On 3/01/2025 12:05:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Heroes in the family. 

My late stepdad, John E. “Jack” Cauley (1930-2021), earned a Silver Star in Korea in August 1950, for conspicuous gallantry in exposing himself to enemy fire as he knocked out a tank with a rocket-launching bazooka. He also received multiple Purple Hearts for his service in Korea, 1950Sep12 & 1951Jan30, when he was seriously wounded in action by missiles.

My late uncle, Harley Stuart Baird (1921-1997), earned a Silver Star in World War II, for gallantry in action against the enemy while serving as a combat crew member of a B-17 bomber in the Battle of Midway between 3 and 7 June 1942.

Another late uncle, Harold Octave “Hal” Buzzell (1932-2007), hiked the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail in 1993 (northbound), an impressive feat for a 61-year-old.

Labels: fam