LIKE DAUGHTER, LIKE MOTHER
Rocky Silver, 63, and Florence Silver, 83

MARILYN McMAHON, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
July 31, 2007 12:00 AM

LIKE DAUGHTER, LIKE MOTHER Rocky Silver, 63, and Florence Silver, 83, are registered nurses at the Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara. When her daughter Rocky Silver, then 36, decided to become a registered nurse, her mother Florence Silver thought it would be fun to take some classes with her at Ventura College.

She had retired the year before from teaching high school English in Connecticut and had her fill of gardening and frivolous pursuits.

"I realized I missed the classroom," said Florence, who became so intrigued with the Ventura College curriculum, she decided to get her nursing degree, too -- at the age of 56. Both graduated three years later with straight A averages and are now colleagues at the Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara, where they work three days a week.

"We loved every second of nursing school, and we love everything about our careers as nurses," said Rocky, now 63 and a grandmother.

Florence, who will be 84 on Aug. 7 and is a great grandmother, has no intention of retiring, despite the fact that she also cares for her husband, David Silver, who has had Alzheimer's Disease for seven years.

The couple met when Florence was attending the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. David was in the Army. Soon after she graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1943, they were married and immediately moved to an Army base in Texas.

A year later, there was another transfer to Little Rock, Ark., where Rocky was born. Hence, the nickname which has stuck with her most of her life. Her real name is Beth after one of the characters in the book "Little Women."

After the war, in 1945, the family moved back to Mr. Silver's hometown, Bridgeport, Conn., where Mr. Silver practiced law and was a jazz musician. Florence was a full-time mom for Rocky and her two sisters.

Five years later, the family moved to Liberty, N.Y., a small town in the Catskill Mountains near the famous Grossinger's Resort.

"We made the move for health reasons," Florence said. "Rocky had asthma, and the change in weather conditions made a huge difference."

In their move to upstate New York, the couple's lives took a dramatic turn, too, when they bought The Rose Garden, a bar and grill.

"That was the name when we bought it, which was fine with me because my mother, who died when I was very young, was named Rose," Florence said.

"Technically, it was a bar and grill, but it became the community center. We had weddings, funerals, celebrations when babies were born and holiday celebrations. In the summer, there were the tourists, and in winter, when the weather was sometimes 20 below, we were like one big family. I loved it," said Florence her bright blue eyes twinkling as she recalled those happy days.

Her husband entertained on the piano and practiced law on the side, and Florence was the bar maid.

"I could tap a barrel of beer with the best of them and dealing with guests who had too much to drink helped prepare me for my next career, teaching high school English in an inner-city school," she said with a laugh.

While her mother served customers, Rocky perched on one of the barstools to watch TV. Her younger sisters rode their tricycles in the back room.

"For the first time, I told my family I wanted to be called by my real name, Beth, instead of Rocky," said Rocky. "I got tired of being teased about Rocky Graziano, the famous prizefighter, who trained at the nearby Grossinger resort, along with other boxers."

But she happily resumed her nickname when her health improved, and her family returned to Bridgeport, where they purchased the Holland Restaurant, another bar and grill.

Three years later, the couple sold the restaurant. Mr. Silver practiced law fulltime, and his wife went to the University of Bridgeport for her master's degree in English and her secondary teaching credential.

"I knew when I started I wanted to be a high school English teacher. I don't know why," Florence said.

For 14 years, she fulfilled her goal at Bassic High School in Bridgeport.

"I loved the first five, the next five were worse and the last five, I was teaching to trapped audiences, except for the advanced placement classes," Florence said. "During this period, schools were being integrated, and there was a lot of white flight. One in four ninth graders couldn't read. I was ready for a change."

Rocky could empathize with her mother. After graduating from Central High School in Bridgeport and attending the University of Connecticut in Storrs for two years, she married a man who was a high school teacher in the inner-city schools, too.

"My husband was a big man and strong, but that didn't prevent students from attacking him and stealing his things," said Rocky, the mother of two daughters. "His last four years there were just awful. We decided a change had to be made."

As soon as school let out for summer vacation, the family climbed into a newly purchased mobile home to drive across the country "looking for a safe place."

Their search led them to Fillmore, where he was offered a temporary position, filling in for an English teacher on a year-long sabbatical.

"That was fine with me because I knew there was no way I could live in California for a long time with my family back East," said Rocky.

When she realized that her marriage was "in trouble," she checked out the career center at nearby Ventura College in Ventura.

"I needed to support myself and my children," she said.

The nursing program appealed to Rocky, now divorced, because she had studied physical therapy while attending the University of Connecticut and liked taking care of people.

As Rocky was about to start the rigorous three-year program at Ventura College in 1979, her mother, who had moved to the area in 1977, asked if she could attend some of the classes with her daughter.

"I loved being in the classroom again and decided to get my registered nursing degree, too," said Florence, who was 59 when she graduated. Her daughter was 39.

Both were A students and frequently helped classmates with their math homework.

Mother and daughter hoped to continue their professional collaboration at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura. Rocky was hired. Florence wasn't, which she attributes to an oversupply of nurses at the time.

While Rocky began working at the hospital, where she was to remain for 14 years, Florence applied everywhere, finally settling for a two-year position at a skilled nursing facility in Ventura.

"Then, one day in September 1985, I saw an ad in the newspaper for a registered nurse at the Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara," recalled Florence. "That was my lucky day. I have been here for 22 years, first on Camino del Remedio, near the County Jail, and the last five on upper De la Vina Street. I have loved every second of my work."

Rocky, who began working at RISB two years ago, feels the same way.

"I have worked in other places, and this one is exceptional," she said. "Living in Ventura and working in Santa Barbara is well worth the commute."

"Everyone here takes care of everyone else from the top down -- administrators, professionals, staff. It's a real team effort that results in better care for patients," said Florence, who has taken additional training to become a certified rehabilitation registered nurse.

e-mail: mmcmahon@newspress.com

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