WALKING IN THE SHOES OF THE CARPENTER

A TRIBUTE BY PETER VUONO

   I was married 45 years ago. One of my closest friends-an usher in my wedding party-Joe DiFalco recently passed from lung cancer although he never smoked a cigarette in his life. Joe was one of 7 children and whose 4 brothers were absolute masters of building, repairing and auto mechanics.

  If the Difalco brothers were one's friend then one would never want for assistance in any possible job. I honestly think that if I asked the DiFalco brothers to build a down scaled model of a Boeing 747, they could do it.  I had a home gym in my garage and I'd like to say that Joe and his brothers helped me build it. It was just the opposite; I helped THEM build my gym!

 Because he was a natural born laborer, Joe took on many jobs which required hard work. He, however, would never complain about work or conditions. The thrust of his life was to uphold his vows as a husband and father and work to make life livable for his loved ones.

  In the 80's Joe worked in a meat packing house with sweat shop conditions and a tyrannical boss.  Another powerlifting friend of mine worked there too who told me of the conditions. This fellow hated the environment so much that he actually got into fisticuffs with the boss. Joe, however, continued the course of working hard without complaint. He'd never take home the angst that his job would cause. He'd simply and patiently wait for a better opportunity and move on.

 This is why it's so ironic to me that Joe was named for one of the most loyal and hard working husbands and dads of all time; Saint Joseph. Joseph was the son of Jacob and 27 generations from King David. He'd be the foster father of Jesus and when word got out that Herod wanted Jesus killed, Joseph was warned in the middle of the night. He got up without complaint, put his wife and son on a burro and WALKED  40 miles to Egypt. 

  When Herod was dead, Joseph, once again was told to return to Israel and once again he'd put his wife and son on the burro and walk the 40 miles back to Israel without out any inkling of consternation. It's here that my friend Joe was so much like Saint Joseph. A hard working family man dedicated to the vows he made in keeping his family safe, fed and happy.

  Even when Joe was on his sick bed, I apologized to him about some of the rapscallions who trained with us in the gym HE built as they made training, at times annoying. Even then, Joe, like his namesake showed no disappointment just as he did his entire life.

  Joe is now gone but his character and spirit will always remain with me. When life gets tough and I start to complain I'll think of my dear friend who like no one else truly walked in the shoes of the carpenter.