Debi Lynch Rafferty

Debi Lynch Rafferty sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

Toffee the cat was around her neck. Wild Bill's bust behind her. Her grandfather jumped. 101st. I never wore that patch. I respect that brand of soldier. I found her on TikTok. Then I saw Wild Bill in it. I had to ask.

Northeast Philadelphia. Row houses. Eldest. Mother was eighteen. Two grade schools. Two high schools. Four colleges. She was not shy. She walked everywhere. Cottman Avenue. Did not drive until she was eighteen. A pink puppy bike got stolen at a playground. She never got another.

Best friend from sixth grade. Camp. A girl stole Heather's shirt. Debi made her give it back. They have been best friends since. Parents divorced in second grade. Junior year her mother moved them to Drexel Hill. She married Wild Bill's son. That is how Wild Bill became family.

Frankford High. Too tall for cheerleading. JV basketball. A letter. Flag football. Softball. She can throw a football. They would not let girls play.

She wanted to be a nurse. Mother was a nurse. In the eighties you had to wait in line. She became a paralegal first. Then she went back. End-stage oncology. She made dying people laugh. Med-surg. Then twins. Then the labor room. Twenty-nine years.

She does not believe this is it. She has questions for people. The grandkids can call her Mom. She is blunt. Labor room blunt. Recently she found romantic love again. He is a Wild Bill fan. He is not on Facebook.

Guest bartender. She fills a room. wildbillmemorial.org. We are going to do Wild Bill Wednesdays. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.