Posted on: Sep 18, 2021 at 9:27 AM

Hey Rita,

A belated "Happy Birthday!". sorry I missed the real day. We were on route all day Wednesday and Thursday getting back to our home in rural France. I hope you had a grand day. It was wonderful seeing you at the reunion.

Much love,
Cecil

Hi Roberta,

Miss Gardner, sounds right. Speaking of names, forgive my typo (Roberta Webster) in my last post.

I was not aware of your mother's death when we were in second grade. That must have been extremely traumatic for you. I think we were not classmates in second grade. My family move to the country between 1st and 2nd grade and I went to a small country school on south Sheridan Road for a couple of years. When we moved back into town I went to Lincoln Elementary for one year and then to Southport when it opened. So, it was in fifth grade that we became classmates again. You and I and Skip Lane and Peter Kaiser and Mark Schmerling and Mickey Lepp... I believe our 5th grade teacher was Miss Tacki and our 6th grade was Mr. Brown.

After I returned to Kenosha, briefly, after the army, I heard that there was quiet a good jazz ensemble playing in the bar at the Holiday Inn on weekends. I went with a friend to hear them one night and guess who was playing the stand-up bass? Mr. Brown! Who knew?

I arrived in Madison in '65. i had a few credits under my belt and I went to summer school every year, so I graduated in 68.

Speaking of Skip Lane (Yes, Nancy, he was very smart). Skip always held a special place in my memory bank. He and his parents had an impact on me that they could never have known about. My parents, wonderful people that they were, were very unsophisticated working class folk. My 10 or 11 year old self greatly romanticised Skip's parents. They were very attractive. They played tennis, they sailed, they drove a convertible, they drank martinis. Hollywood stuff in my young mind. And they were always very nice to me.

I knew Skip was living in northern California. I was in northern California on business, 15- 20 years ago. I found a number for Skip and called him. He was a real estate broker in St. Helena. We had a brief chat. He was perfectly amiable, but did not seem particularly enthusiastic about revisiting his Kenosha years. He did tell me that he had a similar call from Peter Kaiser a year or two earlier. Maybe I will reach out to him again if I can find contact information for him.

Ok, probably more than you wanted to know, but once one starts down these paths...

All the best,
Cecil

Posted on: Mar 01, 2021 at 8:18 AM

Happy Birthday, Roberta

I hope it is a great day for you. I did not mean to barge in on your and Eva's conversation about Mickey Lepp. I apologise if that was inappropriate. Another thing I remember about Durkee kindergarten is that there were two kids in our class that could already read. Roberta Webster and Skip Lane (Stoddard Lane III). I was rather envious.

All the best,
Cecil

Rita,thanks for the birthday wishes. Indeed we are at our house in rural France,which has felt like a safe haven for the last year. Looking forward to our 60th.

Love,
C

Posted on: Feb 16, 2021 at 6:02 PM

Cecil, Happy Birthday. Hope you're having a great day. Stay safe.

Posted on: Feb 16, 2021 at 4:33 AM

Posted on: Jan 26, 2021 at 5:29 AM

Happy Birthday, Chuck. I hope you are able to celebrate and have a wonderful day in spite of the craziness of the world at this moment.

Best,
Cecil

Posted on: Jan 26, 2021 at 4:55 AM

Hey Bill,

Good to hear from you. It looks like we are about 127 kilometers from Brie-sous-Matha. It is about a 1 hour 50 minute drive straight up the D939. Good for you doing all of this research. Are you primarily doing it through ancestry.com? When are you going to make the pilgrimage?

For some reason I was trying to remember the names of two guys we used to hang out with some. I think they were a year older than us. The parents of one of them owned a bar near the old AMC plant. Maybe Doug something and Jeff something. Any idea?

Cheers,
C

Posted on: Sep 19, 2020 at 10:47 AM

Hey Rita,

An embarrassingly belated "Happy Birthday!" I hope it was wonderful. Sorry to be so late. I think I am just suffering from "Covid Brain".

XO
C

Posted on: Aug 12, 2020 at 6:17 AM

Happy Birthday, Suzette. I hope it is a great one. When are you and Buzz going to visit us?

Love
C

Posted on: Jun 17, 2020 at 9:15 AM

Happy Birthday, Jack! I hope it is a great one.

Posted on: Apr 26, 2020 at 5:12 AM

Happy Birthday, Joe. I hope it is a great one in spite of these very difficult times. Hope you and Pat and your entire family are well and safe.

All the best,
Cecil

Posted on: Apr 04, 2020 at 9:26 AM

Hey John,

I hope you and Marilyn are well in the midst of all this craziness. Rebecca and I feel like rural France is a pretty safe place to be at the moment.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday tomorrow. Sending you all good wishes.

Best,
Cecil

Posted on: Feb 16, 2020 at 4:36 AM

Happy Birthday, Connie. I hope you have a great celebration.

Best,
Cecil

Hey Ken,

Happy Birthday from rural France. Hope all is well with you and yours. It has been a long haul since The Curious Savage.

All the best,
Cecil

A belated Happy Birthday, Bill. I hope you are still celebrating. Missed you at the 75th birthday bash.

All the best,
C

Posted on: Sep 17, 2019 at 9:08 AM

Happy Birthday, Rita. I hope you have a grand celebration.

Cheers,
C

Posted on: Sep 12, 2019 at 8:54 AM

Wishing you a belated "Happy Birthday", Nancy. I hope it was a great one and that you are still celebrating.

Posted on: Aug 21, 2019 at 10:33 AM

Happy Birthday, Kate! How's life in the big city? I was delighted that my old friend Andre finally got his Tony.

Best,
C