Joanie's Birthday

Joan

It's my former roomie (I should say landlady) Joan McFee Bentley's birthday today. She never quite catches up with her bro Jeff and me. I love living with my spousal unit and furry pal Odie again, but I sure miss Joanie! I've had some great roomies through the years but Joan ranks up there with the best.

First, I can't leave out Betso Bean. That's my sis Betsy. Even though she is much younger than I am, I was glad to have a roomie. When you're a kid, bedtime - when it's dark, can be kinda scary. There was a light right outside our room that Mom would leave on each night. And then we'd leave the door cracked open. Then one night I noticed something - the light coming through the open door made my shadow look like a dead body on the wall. I was just the age when a kid starts thinking about the possibility of our own death. Scary stuff!

So I was glad to have a little tyke sleeping there right next to me. Some nights I would pull my little record player out from under my bed and pop on my Michael Jackson album. Then I'd talk Betsy into taking turns tickling each other's backs. I could always trick her and tell her she didn't quite do it right, so she'd have to do it again...

My next roommate was during my freshman year of college at Iowa State. I lived on 6th Floor of Maple Dormitory with Loraine Dunn from Pearl City, Illinois. The University housing folks just matched us up - me a small town southwest Iowa jock majoring in Ag and her, a junior majoring in child development without an athletic bone in her body. Loraine was a Mormon, me - Catholic. Surprisingly, it worked just fine once we got to know each other.

Sal, Jane, Vicki

The next year I moved in with the first person I met when I got to ISU for classes. Vicki Gernand (now Behr) asked me if we wanted to go get football tickets and the rest is history. Living together only made our friendship stronger. During our Junior and Senior years we moved into a new apartment on Campus Avenue and added two additional roommates, Sally Rodgers - a longtime Atlantic friend who had just happened to end up living on my dorm floor and Jane Flack, who we all were fortunate to get to know our frosh year. To our friends Moose and Steve, we were known at The Big 4.

Besides Paul Goldsmith (I guess you could count Amy and Jud too), until I lived at Joan's these fine people represent the extent of my experience with roommates. Back then, I was a youngster - so Joanie got me as a jaded old lady. And she put up with me! So for that I thank her. And I miss her. She and I need to get together and celebrate our November birthdays.