New Life! New Family! New Hope!

“Welcome Home.”

These are two simple words that most of us have heard many times in our lives. But for Robert, lovingly known as “Lefty,” it would take a lifetime before they would reach his ears. Lefty was born in 1952 as one in a set of triplets. He was not born into a loving family.

He grew up in what he calls a “dysfunctional home with a working alcoholic father.”

His sister died at the age of 10, and he lost his brother a few years ago. As a teenager Lefty made some poor choices and was sent to a private school where, at age 15, he discovered boxing. He developed his boxing skills and eventually became a world-class professional boxer. During this time the Vietnam War was raging. Lefty signed up and became a Marine. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a Sergeant, serving two tours of duty in Vietnam and receiving injuries during both.

Lefty’s father met him at the door when he returned home from Vietnam.

Instead of embracing Lefty his father simply said, “Your bedroom has been turned into a guest room, so if you stay there, please don’t mess it up.”

Lefty did not feel welcomed in his own home anymore, so he left and never looked back. Over the following years, Lefty continued his boxing career and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1985. He also served as a Philadelphia police officer for 30 years. He never married or had children.

When Lefty retired from the Philadelphia police force in 2011 he felt isolated and alone.

“Suddenly I had nobody. I no longer had my cop friends, I no longer had my boxing friends, and I had no immediate family. No one called to check on me!”

It was during this time that all the nightmares from the Vietnam War came raging back to haunt him.

Lefty never talked to anyone about what happened in Vietnam and had never healed from the wounds of war. He became suicidal as Post Traumatic Stress began to ravage his mind. He spent almost a year in VA hospitals and hospitals that specialized in treating Post Traumatic Stress. It was during one of his hospital stays that Lefty learned about the Joni and Friends Warrior Getaway program.

When he signed up for his first Warrior Getaway, Lefty had no idea that God was preparing to totally transform his life.

“God sets the lonely in families.”

Psalm 68:6

He was greeted at the door by a member of our Joni and Friends Pennsylvania team who gave Lefty two gifts right off the bat: a big smile, and a big sign that said, “Welcome Home!” Finally, Lefty was blessed by the very two words he had been longing to hear his whole life.

“Coming to the Getaway was the first time I heard those words ‘Welcome Home.’ And I was home!”

Never in his life had he felt the love and acceptance that he experienced at our Warrior Getaway. It gave Lefty a safe place to heal from his wounds of war. He heard about faith in Christ in an entirely new way and met other Vietnam Veterans who were also on their own healing journey. Lefty felt loved by the younger Warriors who embraced him and helped him continue to heal. Lefty says that most importantly, “I found family!”

After the Warrior Getaway, Lefty’s new family stayed in close contact with him – inviting him over for Thanksgiving dinner and visiting him whenever he was in the hospital. And when he needed to quarantine due to coronavirus, Lefty was never alone. His Warrior Getaway friends and his friends from Joni and Friends Pennsylvania call on Lefty regularly to make sure all is well. Because that’s what family does!

And because of the relationships formed through Warrior Getaway, Lefty has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

In that moment when Lefty made his sincere declaration for Christ, it was as if all of heaven sang out, “Welcome home, Lefty! Welcome to the forever family of God!”

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5