Dear Dr. Pritchard

I feel awkwardly bad that this letter is written too late for you to read it. But I thought it a good idea to express how maybe, just maybe, hanging on for another week might have been helpful to you. Or maybe not; small gestures are usually just that.

You see, tomorrow at my follow-up appointment with you to look at my left knee I was planning some good natured banter about the fact that I learned you are a fellow Baylor alum. And not only that, we attended Baylor at roughly the same time. You were a freshman when I was a senior (should I feel old?!). When you said at my first appointment you attended UT medical school at Galveston, and by the look of you, I strongly suspected Baylor. And looking at the Baylor alum directory online, I confirmed you were indeed a fellow Bear.

But tomorrow's appointment - and any other appointment with you - has been made impossible. I was shocked to learn of your very unexpected death this morning when I called Providence Tanasbourne in response to their vague voicemail message for a need to reschedule. The receptionist let me know they learned of your death yesterday morning, with no cause given. "Reeling" was her word, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't rather taken aback myself.

I think the only thing that shocked me more was the confirmation this afternoon via the Astoria, Oregon newspaper that "suicide was likely" after the identity of your body, which washed ashore at Cannon Beach Monday, had been established.

Were you lonely? You admitted much family in Texas; were you feeling alienated so far from your family and most of what you have known in your life? Did Oregon's winter get to you? Were you hiding something inside? I have to admit that I got a little bit of that sense that you might be. And in the context of where you are from and where you went to school, I could see how much the stresses and strains of that would possibly be unbearable.

Would a friendly hello from a fellow Baylor alum have helped significantly? Probably not. Would it have been enough to get you through a dark day you might have been struggling with right at that time? Maybe. Mutual acquaintances, experiences and divergent paths post-graduation would have been fun, memorable chat. But unfortunately, you and I will never know.

I hope your family takes the news with great courage and faith. And if indeed a hidden secret is what drove you to the desperate act of ending your own life, it only underscores the fact that our Texas Baptist alma mater and other Christians of similar mindset should finally understand that the neighbor Jesus commanded us to love and not judge, the very one He died for, may have that very same type of secret.

Whatever the cause or desperation, your passing is tragic. So much medical training that could have helped so many people over a lifetime, including all of those that may have suffered from whatever ailment or problem that finally caused you to take your own life.

But all of that will soon be laid to rest in Texas. I hope you rest in peace.

Thank God for DVD

You don't really see it anymore, but there was a time when TV transcended itself and could be intelligent, poetic and even inspirational.

Take for example an hour-long, character-driven television show featuring a large cast, won Emmy awards, took place in an exotic location, and featured the following characters:
-A young, talented but stubborn doctor stranded in a remote location
-A beautiful, tough young woman in an on-again/off-again romance with the doctor
-A younger, more rugged ex-con with an affinity for books, sharing an attraction for the woman
-A mystical, metaphysical bond between a philosophical white character and a similarly philosophical black character
-A younger male character, with mixed heritage, and an affinity for pop culture and a laid-back "dude" personality

Sound a bit like Lost? It's not. It's Northern Exposure, and it couldn't be a more polar opposite television show, despite some remarkable coincidences that Lost creators have seemingly cribbed. But the bar was set pretty high by NX, with no brutality, killings, or other glorifications of the darker side of humanity.

Proof:



Another thank you very much for my Christmas gift, Jill.

A Question Worth Asking

A conversation with Jerry at work about a book of U.S./Latin America foreign policy reminded me of William Walker, who in pre-Civil War years led more than one war of conquest in Mexico and Central America.



At one point, Walker declared himself the Ruler of Honduras, fatally crossed Vanderbilt family business contracts there, and tried in earnest to make Central America a slave-state confederacy to add to the U.S. South. Vanderbilt's wrath eventually led to the capture of Walker by the British navy, who turned him over to Honduran authorities all too happy to execute him by firing squad at age 36.



Check out the Wikipedia entry below.







William Walker (soldier) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The reason it's also interesting is because Jill used to work at William Walker Elementary School in Beaverton. I cannot find another William Walker that had enough national notoriety to have a school named after him in the 50's or 60's. Beaverton schools website and the school website are silent on the issue.



So is this elementary school in Beaverton (with an amusingly ironic enrollment predominance of Hispanic students) named after a classic jingoist/imperialist from the U.S. that tried to expand the evil of U.S. slavery, in part as a failed attempt to save his own neck?

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Gabriel's New Big Truck

Well, not really that big or a truck, but Gabriel is now a happy passenger in a 2002 Toyota Highlander we bought on Friday evening. We got it used on Craigslist and it was quite a find for us.



Below is a photo from the listing. So far we've taken it out to see the horse and back, went to the park to see geese and throw rocks, and done a few odd chores. It's great fun to drive and Gabriel loves the keyless entry remote, of course.




That means I get to get rid of the chickenmobile!