Iowa State: Rooming with Ron

My last semester at Iowa State was spent on the ‘new’ floor of Niles-Foster. Because I’d been gone for a semester, I had to take whatever space was available. I didn’t want to be in an apartment–this was still the Golden Age of Residence Halls. My friends were there on the top floor of Friley.

The space that wound up available was somehow with Ron Silverio. Ron was a Foster ‘lifer’ going back to the Fall of 1985. We’d been friends since I moved to Foster in January, 1986. It was perfect.

And it pretty much was–no fights or disagreements. Nothing. And yet here I am, writing a blog post…so SOMETHING must be up. How right you are.

While Ron and I shared some interests–music, board/RPG games, we apparently had something else in common that neither of us realized…

It was sometime in February, I think. Definitely a Sunday. My mom called the room but I wasn’t there. NOTE: For young people, long distance phone calls ALWAYS took place after 11pm during the week or on Sundays because they were less expensive then–there was no such thing as cell phones and calling whenever you wanted. Ron answered the phone–and then my mom proceeded to talk to him for 15 minutes NEVER REALKIZING SHE WAS TALKING TO RON rather than her own son. Eventually, Ron was able to (politely) interject, “Um, Mrs. Dietz, this isn’t Jim. It’s Ron.” My mom was embarrassed she didn’t recognize the difference in voices. Ron had a great laugh.

He was laughing still when I got back to the room…and it was just as amusing over the next couple weeks while my mom took pains to make sure she was clearly talking to me rather than my roommate. Ron, of course, harassed me with “Dude, your mom doesn’t even know who you are” and things like that. Hah!

So we get to a month or so later. The phone rings. Ron’s not there. I answer it with just “Hello” (extending the ‘o’ a bit). I didn’t identify myself. It was Ron’s mom. Before I knew it, I was in a conversation with his mom–trying to figure out how to get in “Mrs. Silverio, this isn’t Ron. It’s Jim.” That proved impossible for about 30 seconds until she paused after saying something like “Ronnie, I’m just always so proud of you, my sweet baby.” (You know–Mom stuff. Roll your eyes–but your mom does it, too.) I had a good laugh with Mrs. Silverio.

And of course, as soon as Ron got back to the room–I laid it on him pretty good about his mom.

It was weird to us that BOTH our moms got confused hearing our voices. Of course we talked about this in front of friends–turns out that they all thought our voices were quite similar, too. So weird because I hear Ron’s voice and I don’t think it sounds at all like me. Ron would tell you the same in reverse…yet our moms couldn’t tell us apart.

It’s all rather innocent to remember and smile about 30+ years down the road. Simpler worries when you’re a kid in college, but…it’s wonderful to realize both of us shared moms openly loving and caring for their children. It’s a gift I wish more people shared in the world.