RONNIE,DAVID, GOLIATH AND ME

By Peter Vuono

   Generally speaking, I had a happy childhood but there was oftentimes looming over my head, a shroud of fear. I was both physically and somewhat emotionally inferior to most of my peers. I was extremely diminutive in size; I oftentimes couldn't even digest my food. This in turn gave me a complex of interiority. I was often bullied and often afraid.

   Once in a movie theater, I was bullied away from a drinking fountain so a young tough and his sister could drink. At the same theater, I was so frightened by one  of  Ray Harryhausen's creations that I fled from the monster on the screen and walked out of the theater. I was so afraid of one of my parochial school teachers, that I ,on 3 occasions, got sick to my stomach and raced to the men's room! A butterfly's metamorphosis has 4 stages of development and mine would begin with my two cousins David and Ronnie Zoia.

   I never needed to read about the Titans of ancient Greece because they were personified by my two cousins. Ronnie was about 6"2" and a solid 220 lbs. He was a football phenom and once in his kitchen he pressed me over his head! Ron was the quarterback  for Hofstra. At about the same time a famous comedian did a popular monologue about the Hofstra team. He stated, "The smallest guy on the team was 6"1" and 490lbs!" He would later be drafted by the Buffalo Bills. This was quite commendable as he was working along side of NFL legend Daryl Lamonica  which made competition fierce! A knee injury caused him to move into another field where he would excel- Education.

   I'll not ever forget the day Ronnie, as an administrator, jumped out of a window like Batman to chase a recalcitrant motorcyclist  on foot whose revving engine disrupted the school environment!

  If cousin David were painted green I would never have had to read about the Incredible Hulk. Dave was a bit shorter at about 5"10" and weighed a solid 218! He had a penchant for bodybuilding and I'll not forget the time in his living room where after much prodding he flexed his left bicep. I'll never forget the gasps it drew including one from my father! Dave had a heart of gold. He knew I loved dinosaurs and he bought a dino comic book from the corner store next to his home. He saw me salivate over it as he reached his front door and without even reading the 1st page he gave me the comic. I never forgot the memory!

  I wanted to be like these guys but I didn't, at the time know how. Ronnie and David were the 1st two phases of my metamorphosis in defeating MY Goliath of fear and inferiority. It would continue by my being mesmerized by the mighty men of the silver screen and TV. The final stages of my changeover occurred after my being inspired by Steeve Reeves, George Reeves and of course, Bruno Sammartino.

  I started lifting weights and never looked back. In 74 I came in 2nd in the Eastern States Powerlifting Championships in Nashua. When the time came for a teaching job interview, my superiors Messrs. Phinney and LaBranche were so impressed with my powerlifting  that they gave me a job on the spot.

  I would win the NH State Powerlifting Championships in 77 but more importantly the love of my wife Diane.This lead to two wonderful children and a 35 year career in special Ed. thanks to the inspiration of my two cousins coupled with the mighty men of the silver screen and TV. I had come full circle and felled the Philistine. My Goliath is now dead.

 God sent his grace to king David. In a different manner he sent inspiration to me to defeat my demons. He did it for me and he can do it for you!

"Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in his forehead, and he fell faced down to the ground"- 1 SAMUEL 17:48