James (Jim) Rookus

Love that sign Dave !!!  We waiting in the "Old Folks " rockers at Cracker Barrel for a table ... feel safe here ... definitely not a young crowds hang out ... mostly old folks

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

GEE WHIZ!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES. I was supposed to go to Marv's today for filet mignon, but the weather had other ideas. So we're postponing the trip until Tuesday. Looking forward to stocking up on tomatoes when I get there.

Wendy, I've seen that cake before. It looks scrumptous. Max, I too like the "trip around the sun" idea. Compared to swimming, that's a really long lap.

Dave, I hope you chose wisely when you went to the store. Glad to see that Jim has his priorities in the right place.

Allida and Julie, so many wonderful memories of grade school. Love seeing those photos.

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

Happy Birthday to both Melvin and Marvin.  Thank you for being a big part of our class website.   Hope you both have many more birthdays!

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

I might have posted that cake before.  My granddaughter made it for me for my birthday in June.  Wish I could give d erroneous a slice,  it it is long gone.  
 

Dave, that sign is hilarious. 

James (Jim) Rookus

Another graduation .... so proud of our Kaden graduating at 16 and top of his class of 400 !  With the COVID restrictions a really weird and unusual graduation with every family waiting in cars in huge parking lots and families coming up in small groups to witness graduate walking across stage (outdoors) to receive diploma, take a picture and walk back to car.  8 down 9 more to go ... hope we live long enough to witness all of them graduate.... hmmm that would be 16 more years !!!

Elizabeth Spillman (Alex)

Happy Belated Marvin and Melvin, hope you both had a great day..  I am so happy to be a part of the class of 64  :)

  Liz

David Long

Julie - wonderful pictures and am really enjoying the extra pictures.  Have to talk to you in person about Mongolia.

Jim - I hope my youngest grandson is a genius, as he's just one.

Mel - I was going to test the legitimacy of the sign, but then thought what if it's not a joke......

Julie - again, where are the eyeballs from the goat's head - it's a delicacy...I can't think of any creature that's not human other than a large ape that would have a foot like the one in you picture.  

Mel - on your way south, you could stop by Dinkel's and pick up a small treat for the birthday celebration....

James (Jim) Rookus

DAVE ... wow ... would I like to sink my chops into that cake !  Yummmiiee!!!  Where is Dinkles ?

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

WOW!  That chocolate cake looks SO GOOD!!   

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Dave, thanks for the cake. Wendy said she ate the other one. LOL Where is Dinkel's? That looks awesome and totally out of my dietary budget.

Jim and Sandy, mitts off, Dave sent that cake to me. But I'll share a piece with you. And Jim, congratulations to Kaden. That's a great honor.

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes. If all goes well, I'll get to collect that filet mignon from Marv tomorrow.

Liz, ditto on being part of this wonderful Class of 64.

James (Jim) Rookus

SANDY... since Mel isn't too thrilled about sharing that delecitble chocolate cake with us... how about we get one and share it ?... just between us!  

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

My daughter is a professional level baker.  Has taken many courses, etc.  thought I would share a few pictures of cake so she has made.

Take a slice and enjoy 😉 

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Wendy, those cakes are amazing. Your daughter is a fabulous culinary artist. You are so lucky. Hope you're not eating all of them. All kidding aside, I looked up Dave's Dinkel's reference and OMG, they are in Chicago, just a few blocks from where my son lives and I would love to dig in to one of those cakes. I'm in so much trouble.

Just talked to Marv and we are on for tomorrow. BLTs for lunch, pontoon boat ride on Heritage Lake, filet mignon for dinner, and any discussion of politics is strictly forbidden. Rules are rules.

Jim and Sandy, if you come to Chicago, I'll treat you to Dinkel's. No kidding!!!

I'll be out of commission tomorrow, but inspired by Jim's post about Kaden, what if for Wednesday the theme is THINGS I'M PROUD OF IN MY LIFE? Not about your kids, but something you've done. Would love to see what all of you consider your proudest moments, accomplishments or experiences.

Marvin Theobald

Thank you all for so many nice birthday wishes.

I enjoyed a quiet day at home. Those cake pics look delicious. Dinkel's will probably not be on Mel's path tomorrow but we may need to check it out the next time I get to Chicago.

Julie - Your grandsons are sooo cute and I love the concentration the little one was applying to get those fingers to cooperate. The grade school photos provide so many flash backs of all of those wonderful kids we grew up with (except Mel who claims he never grew up).

Jim - I can't imagine the pride you must have in Kaden. He must be extremely extra-ordinary to have achieved such a fantastic accomplishment. I am sure he worked very hard to earn such a high honor. He must have had a lot of coaching from his grandparents. After all, they are pretty grand.

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

James (Jim) Rookus

MARV ... thanks for your kind words ... no coaching from grandparents or anyone else... he did NOT work that hard to achieve .... the back story is .... son and wife were ready to  adopt a fourth child... one day got call from adoption agency saying .... we have a 14 month old  boy from China have 24 hrs to decide if you want him... believed to be " special needs" but don't know why... think may be deaf...  so they said yes....  turns out his only "special" was his genius.  Began reading at 3 was a human calculator at 4 and in school never new what to do with him ... so advanced was always bored !  As a freshman had all the seniors as best friends because he helped them with their calculus homework.  Kaden has been a real joy and blessing to our family.   The circumstances were very unusual because in China they never give up a boy... and to keep him in orphanage till  14 months old ... they thought might be from some prominent family embarrassed to have a special need child. So their mistaken diagnosis was God's blessing to our family!

Marvin Theobald

Mel is on his way back to Chicago after a fun day at Heritage Lake. The filets were accompanied by lots of other good eats followed by cake (Judy's contribution) and icecream. Wish you could all have been here. Below are a couple of photos documenting the event.

Marvin Theobald

Jim - That was a fascinating story about Kaden. Thank you for sharing that detail. He is quite remarkable.

Terry (Max) Maxwell

Looks like an awesome spread!  If Mel ate all of that, he'll probably fall asleep driving home.  Glad you got to celebrate your birthday together.

James (Jim) Rookus

Looks like Marv is quite an accomplished grill master and Mel is about to seriously attack that meal !!!

Glad you guys could celebrate together!  Again Happy Birthday to you both and thanks to you both for all that

you do and have done for our class as we age well together!

David Long

David Long

Marv & Mel, Mel & Marv, M & M,   Where's the cake?  Or did the combined weight of all the candles sink it?

David Long

3329 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
773.281.7300

Terri Baxter (Whirrett)

Belated Happy Birthday to Marvin and Mel!Looks like you had a great time!

Marvin Theobald

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. They are greatly appreciated. We are now 3 degrees further around the sun since then so I am ready to move on. I am thinking about SHARED PROJECTS today. Something you pitched in to do with someone else whether it is just a story or supported with pics.

While visiting my son in NH in 2009, he had wanted to plant a summer garden. Knowing about where he wanted it, I got an early start one morning and started digging. The ground in NH has quite a few rocks one of which I encountered soon after the digging started. I wanted to remove it from the garden so I started digging around it assuming it was a small boulder. The more I dug the bigger that rock got. My son and grandson joined me in my attempt to remove it. We had invested too much effort in removing it to leave it and we were determined it was coming out. It took a couple of hours and some trial and error in getting the right leverage and supports, but we finally defeated it.

Starting to realize how big it was.

Fully uncovered and trying to lift one end to put a spacer under it.

Finally got it part way up an incline.

All hands on deck to slide it over.

Final lifting with leverage to raise the back side up.

Celebrating our sucess.

Continued digging of the garden had its moments of friendly disagreement.

The boulder actually made a nice bench seat to rest on and admire the days work. I estimated it weighed well over 400 pounds.