code: public T get(String key) {
          SoftReference<T> ref = cacheMap.get(key);
          if (ref != null) {
              if (ref.get() == null) {
                  logger.debug("Cached item was cleared: " + key);
              }
              return ref.get(); //maybe still be null
          }
  
          return null;
      }
docs: Retrieves an object from cache. If the object was cleared due to memory demand, null will
  be returned.
  
  @param key
  @return value