The 4 Cleavers . . . Together Again!

Maybe this isn't a big laugh but it might cause a big smile.

After fifty-nine years the "4 Cleavers" of Loyola Academy are reunited. Unfortunately only photographically. A little over a year ago Ken Bochat, incorporating the skills he developed tracking down deadbeats during his tenure as VP at Northern Trust, found me. (I didn't even realize that I was lost. But, I must have been. So now I'm found.) Over the years Ken had done a much better job of keeping in touch with the other "Cleavers". So, in an attempt to make up for "disappearing" for fifty plus years, I promised myself that I would personally visit each of the guys. Since then I have gotten together with Ken and his wife Linda several times, living only a little over a hundred miles apart makes that fairly easy. Rich and George create a bigger problem because thousands of miles separate us. 

George Dramis came first. We had planned a trip to DizzyWorld and, as it turned out that George and, high school sweetheart, Anne Marie visit there fairly often. (I guess he fills in for Goofy in the off season) We arranged a meeting and met at Epcot where we spent a pleasant hour or two catching up on the past fifty years. It seems that George spent most of that time in the Army serving our country. Although George didn't mention it, Ken told me of some of the action that he was involved in. I truly thank George for his service. He'll always be at the top of my "Heroes I Know" list. I thought I was a big deal protecting Rush Street from those Hippie, Commie, Pinkos in the Fifties and Sixties but, it sure pales in comparison to George's contribution. 

Next up Rich Grisius. Rich and wife Sylvia, also his high school sweetheart, reside in a mansion located somewhere in Maryland participating in a witness protection program. Seems that Rich had become a mouth doctor and spent most his adult life as dental guru aboard a luxurious yacht disguised as an aircraft carrier. (that's why you'll never see a Sailor with bad teeth or a crooked smile. Thank Rich for that.) I guess he couldn't keep his hands to himself (Syl used to say that back in HS) because, after the Navy, he spent ten or more years teaching other future extractors, root canalers and smile fixers at Georgetown University. (No relation to our George) So . . . on our trip to South Carolina this Spring, we took the Maryland turnoff and spent an afternoon, night and morning at the Grisius Compound. I can't say that I've ever felt so safe in my life. A real highlight of the visit, beside the wonderful meals prepared by Svl, was the complimentary flossing after each meal.

This pretty much finished the loop and even though we can't see each other as often as we would like, we still have the thing that brought us back together . . . the Internet! We swap jokes and earth shattering information on a daily basis. And Jo and I do get together with Ken and Linda as often as our busy schedules allow. 

Below are a couple of photos showing "The 4 Cleavers" then and now. You can see how little our appearance has changed over the years.

Circa 1953 - Left to Right: Ken Bochat, George Dramis, Rich Grisius and Ron Blume.*

Circa 2012 - Left to Right: Same guys as above.**

* Perfect smiles were incentive for Rich's quest to make the world "mouth pretty".

** Quite interesting how George's appearance hasn't changed at all over the years. 
(Must have something to do with Army food!)