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Joe Lafferty (Rest In Peace Buddy)
Roughly 3 years ago Joe Lafferty reached out to me to see about being a guest on my show.
He is the author of Justin Time: A Memoir of Faith and The Fight For Life; and he wanted me to read it before coming on the show, so he sent it to me.
By the time I finished the book and our schedules allowed recording an interview; nearly a year had passed.
When the interview was completed; it was almost 2 hours long. We talked for another hour after that.
At the end of that 3-hour conversation; Joe told me that we would be friends. As a matter of fact; his exact words were, “We are either going to be friends, or you’re going to change your phone number”.
Then he asked if I would mind being added to his list of morning texts; where he sends texts and inspirational messages every morning to a few friends, and people that are important to him. Of course, I said yes.
Since Joe was an hour ahead of me; his was the very first text I received EVERY SINGLE DAY. His words of inspiration and faith were my first contact with the outside world, every day, for more than two years.
Not long after, he started calling me. Our conversations got longer and more intimate. Before I knew it; we WERE friends. Just like Joe said we would be.
We talked every weekday for two years.
Monday through Friday, we would chat. Sometimes it would be 10 minutes, sometimes it would be 2 hours. Some days it would be a quick phone call once, other days it would be 4 or 5 phone calls in a day. We would talk between his work meetings, or while he was running errands. We would talk while I was working at my job, and standing on a ladder all day.
We would shoot the shit, we would tell each other jokes, we would make each other laugh.
We talked every week day for two years.
Joe has had a lot of milestones in his life.
He coached 15 young men on their way to the NFL. That is to say, Joe Lafferty helped 15 men realize their dream, and help them on their journey to become professional football players.
Joe has many, MANY friends. Some are very famous, most aren’t; but he has A LOT of friends.
When Joe was a small child he beat Leukemia and became a spokesperson for his regional chapter of The Leukemia Society. Later in life, due to a one in a million infection; he lost an eye.
Not long after that, Joe died….. for 7 minutes, the story is more involved than that;, but that’s what happened.
Shortly after that, Joe received a double organ transplant on Valentine’s Day, 2010; and every day after that he lived on borrowed time. Or as Joe would say “Justin Time”; because Justin was the name of the young man whose organs he received.
Joe’s daily goal was to positively affect those around him; as many people as he could. He inspired some, motivated others, cheered and guided where he could.
On May 1st, 2022 Joe was visiting his mother in Pittsburgh, and helping her clean out her garage. That evening he Face Timed his wife, who was at their home in Florida. Shortly after that Joe went to sleep, and he didn’t wake up.
Throughout his life Joe Lafferty was many things, to many people.
He was:
*A coach
*A mentor
*An athlete
*A brother
*A son
*A husband
*A father figure
*A creator
*An author
*A podcaster
*An advocate
*A hard worker
*A man of principle.
*And A man of faith.
But most importantly to me; JOE LAFFERTY WAS MY FRIEND.
I miss him all day, every day; and I didn’t even know him that long.
I can’t imagine what his other friends and family are going through, I honestly can’t.
For those of us lucky enough to have known him, he touched us.
For those of us blessed to have befriended him; we are forever changed, for the better.
What follows is parts 1 & 2 of Joe Lafferty’s appearance on Fascination Street Podcast; joined into one nearly 2 hour long episode with as limited commercial breaks as possible.
This 2 part conversation originally aired May of 2020.
This is how I got to know him, and the seeds of a great relationship with my friend Joe Lafferty.
Please enjoy my conversation with my friend.
You can get Joe’s book at: TheRealBionicMan.com or on Amazon.
