By Becca Verda

It doesn’t take long to see former Seahawk Joe Tafoya is a big guy with an even bigger heart. He loves his family, his wife and the 12’s community here in Seattle. He leads with his heart, even when it comes to business.

“As an entrepreneur” Joe explains, “I have learned to look for the opportunities that make the most sense. Not just monetarily, but in life. Everything we do has this community feel to it. [The 12’s] give people the opportunity to come together, we just provide the uniforms.”

Those uniforms come in the form a Lady 12’s Apparel, a company Joe founded with his wife, Brandelyn, in 2013. Joe recalls how the 12’s inspired the business, “I played in the NFC championship game [in Seattle]” he says, “there was this crazy loud moment before the game started. I always wanted to find a way to tell fans that what they were doing in the stadium mattered to the players down in the locker room. It always stuck with me. I wanted to get involved, and we did.”

Now, you can see Lady 12’s Apparel all over Seattle. But it’s the community that really matters to Joe and community is a value he learned early from his mother, Karen. Joe recalls his childhood with great affection, and  his mother, who was a staple in their school system, as the glue that kept their family close. He describes her as an inspiration. So when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, it came as a shock to her youngest son.

“She is still a very sweet person,” Joe says, “genuine and caring. But she is no longer the same free-spirited person, the social person she was before. That’s the hardest part for me to see.”

Joe wasn’t sure how to tell people about the changes happening with his mother. For a long time, he didn’t tell anyone about the diagnosis. Like many, Joe was afraid of what people would think because of the stigma associated with the disease. He started small with only his inner circle and trusted network. Eventually, Joe found the courage to share his experience as a caregiver to his mother on social media and the response was life changing.  

“It’s what turned things around for me,” he says, “I was essentially telling stories that other people [lived]...people I knew for a very long time were messaging me pictures of loved ones they cared for. Here we are with this common bond that we don’t talk about.”

So Joe started talking more, and people continued to reach out. He’s not just breaking down the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s disease, he’s showing that it’s OK for men to share the emotional issues in their lives: “The idea of sharing feelings for a man, especially one that grew up in such a macho culture like I did, you just don’t do it” Joe says, “you don’t know how, you don’t have the practice.”

Joe continues to find support and community through his involvement with the Alzheimer’s Association. “Building communities is where I think [the Alzheimer’s Association is] at its strongest” he says, “it is one of the main reasons I want to get involved and do whatever I can to help people like me know that there are other people with the same issues going on in their lives.”

This year, Joe, Lady 12’s Apparel and the 12th Man joined millions of Americans across the nation at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. “When I was standing there [at the Walk]” Joe says, “I was getting tears in my eyes. Because my goodness, I know what I go through. So I could only imagine what they’re going through, what we all go through. It was kind of a sense of relief. It may sound weird, but to know that people are going through the same thing, it really does start to make you feel normal again.”

You can join Joe and millions of others in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Donate today to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s at www.alz.org/walk. Learn more about the community of support in Seattle at www.alzwa.org or call their 24/7 Helpline at 1.800.272.3900.