Josh A. Behjat Haggerty

By Dennis Haggerty

The Book is comprised of over 70 short stories of a man who lived his dream while working to make the world a better place. Each of the stories are from people who have known Josh Behjat Haggerty. They are family, friends, co-workers, and buddies, men and women, from all walks of life, of varying ages, and from different parts of the world. Some have known him since childhood, others have known him as an adult for many years, and some only a few years. But the outstanding running theme in each and every one of the stories is a picture of a man who exemplifies kindness, understanding, generosity of spirit, an eagerness to experience life, and a soul who not only lived the human experience, but embraced it to the fullest. Josh was a member of the Baha'i Faith and lived his life as a man true to his faith. Several of the stories referenced his faith and how the author of that particular story was impacted through their association with Josh. One such story, in describing Josh coined the term "The Spiritual Stuntman". Josh's story is an inspiration to all. Here is a man who had no contacts in the Film Industry. No experience on how to go about becoming a stuntman. He dove into it with only a dream. A dream to be a stuntman.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098360979

Book preview

Haggerty

FAMILY

JOSH A. BEHJAT HAGGERTY

THE BEGINNING

by

His Mom and Dad (Babcia and Bampa to Max and Malia)

August 7th, 1975

Would you like for me to give her Last Rites?

I looked up at the man standing in front of me. It was a strange question; Cindy was having a baby. The question was out of nowhere. I was dumfounded, I just looked at him and stared with confusion. The Catholic priest waited for me to respond.

Cindy was in a lot a pain. The delivery was not going as easy as we thought it would. This baby was going to be our first. If it was a boy we were going to name him Josh.

This was our second trip to the hospital. Two weeks earlier, Cindy was having contractions and we rushed to get her to there in time. We arrived and Cindy was immediately put into a room. There we would stay for the next 24 hours.

Finally the doctor came in and after checking her out, told us we could go home. Twenty-four hours after arriving, we were two young people going home after a false alarm. We didn’t consider it a false alarm, well at least Cindy didn’t. It sure seemed real to her. But a week or so later we were back in the hospital.

All through the night I rubbed her back, we did all the things that the Lamaze classes taught us to do. We thought we were so prepared.

Second trip to the hospital and another 24 hours of contractions. I was up and down all night - pacing, worrying, and feeling helpless. When I wasn’t up trying to keep my mind occupied, I was sitting on the chair next to her bed. When her contractions started, she was in extreme pain, and I would jump up and rub her back. She told me that it helped so by God that is what I did.

At some point, the doctor came in and told us that the baby was very big and that he may not be able to be birthed normally, so they were going to prep Cindy for a Caesarean. I did not understand very much at that time about what that meant. I found out later that it meant that they were going to surgically remove the baby.

As they applied alcohol to her back where they were going to administer anesthesia, she screamed in pain.

The nurse looked down and said, Oh my God, your lower back is almost raw!

I sheepishly told them, I think that is my fault. She felt better when I rubbed her back, and that’s what I’ve been doing all night. Then they asked me to leave the room while they prepped her for the operation.

I had planned on being present during the birth, but they told me that would not be possible since they were now moving to a Caesarean. I was to leave the room and wait outside.

Standing outside her room, I was exhausted from being up and down all night. I just stood there wondering what was going to happen next. I was not experienced at this and had no idea what to expect. So I guess my job was to pace and worry, pace and worry.

Would you like for me to give her Last Rites?

The question caught me off guard. I was alone in the hall - by myself. I felt out of control. Panic began to set in. Last Rites! I thought. That’s a prayer that you give to people when they are dying. This was my first realization of an inner feeling that I had always felt but never verbalized. Last Rites! To me that meant giving up! There is no way I am giving up, and never will!

I immediately looked him in the eye and said, No, I do not want you to do that.

I must have looked very confident and sure of myself, because he just looked at me and said, "It is customary at our hospital for all patients to get last rites prior to surgery. I again told him, I don’t think she needs it. So he acknowledged my request and turned and left.

I looked around for a pay phone (cell phones did not exist in 1975) and called Cindy’s mom. Mom, can you come down to the hospital? I begged her. It wasn’t really a question. Cindy has to have a Caesarean. She asked me if I needed her there and I said I did.

About an hour later both Cindy’s mom and dad arrived and I suddenly felt better - relieved. Something happened to me when her mother arrived. It was like I had support and did not have to be the strong person, and I began to cry. I was so worried for Cindy that I no longer knew what to do.

It seemed to be several hours, but looking back on it, I really don’t’ remember the amount of time it took. The doctor came into the waiting room to find me with a big smile on his face. The baby and Cindy were both doing fine. Another good thing was Cindy was so strong that she actually pushed the baby out, even after the doctor told her to stop pushing.

I went to the nursery and watched through the glass as they bathed Josh and took all his vitals and prepared him to be taken to his mom. It was a surreal moment for me. I think I grew up at that moment. It was a realization that I now have a tremendous responsibility to be a dad and to take care of this little boy. Then next time I got to see Cindy, she was holding Josh. The look on her face was one that I wouldn’t see again until our other children were born. She was happy, excited, relieved and scared. Our life changed that day, we closed a chapter, started a new one, and we have never looked back. Our family had grown. We each had no idea how much this little boy was going to teach us and make us who we are today.

Newspaper clipping of Josh’s birth

August 7, 1975

ANALYZING DECISIONS

by

Bampa & Babcia (Dennis Haggerty & Cynthie Grace)

Josh was 4 years old and we were living in Memphis, Michigan at the time. Memphis is a town of about 1,000 people – very small by just about every standard, but the high school defined the community and the people who lived there.

Friday nights in Memphis were reserved for high school football games. Looking back, it seems as though the entire town would go to the game. I guess that’s how it was in small towns all across America in those days. Maybe still is. And even though I didn’t have any kids in high school or playing in those games, I looked forward to going to them just the same and taking Josh with me.

The year was about 1979 or 1980 - it doesn’t really matter for this story. I would prep Josh all week that we were going to go to the football game. I was so proud to be able to take my son to hang out with just him and me.

I remember the very first time we went. We pulled into the parking lot, parked the car and got out. Child car seats were not important to me in those days; in fact I’m not sure they were even invented yet, so Josh was able to jump down from standing on the seat to the ground. We would hold hands as we walked through the parking lot to go watch the game. When we arrived at the gate, I realized that they were selling tickets. I didn’t have enough money to get us both in so we were forced to turn around and head away from the game. Josh seemed a little confused. He looked up at me and said, I thought we were going to the game? I thought it would be better to just be honest with him, so I said to him; I don’t have enough money to buy the tickets to get in. Josh insisted that he still wanted to watch the game. What was I going to do?

Just then I saw a car back up out of a parking space and drive away. The parking space just happened to be right on the edge of the End Zone. This would be a perfect seat if I could get this parking space. We raced to our car and I quickly drove around to the next row and pulled into the vacated spot. We pulled right up to the fence! There was nothing but the chain link fence blocking our view and we could see right through it. And if we got on the hood of the car we could see right over it. What luck! Front row seats!

We sat on the car hood and watched the first half of the game from there. The cool part of the entire experience was that at half time they stopped taking tickets and you could go in for free. And that is exactly what we did. We went inside together at half time and it didn’t cost a penny. Josh and I had a great time together. He would climb up and down the bleachers and run behind the bleachers and there were even times he would come back and sit beside me and watch the game for a few