Al Lejarde (AL): At the time I was just a lowly intern volunteer transitioning from one job to another. I was asked to be at this meeting. It was like, full house, all hands on deck and there was this veteran in the far back corner. Bald headed guy, goatee, tattoos. And he was jumping up and down. I was like, what’s going on over here?

Marcus Priolo (MP): I was born to a heroin addict mother  and was taken away from her. I grew up in group homes, foster homes, trips to juvenile hall. At 19 years old, I really had nowhere to go, and  I longed to be around people. So I joined the military for the comradery. 

Coming out, the transition was very difficult. I felt like I was alone again. Like I didn’t have anything to live for. 

I was on an alcoholic binge and used some pretty hard drugs and I, uh, lost my mind.  

AL: I was called to, uh, help my coworkers for a veteran that was being asked to leave permanent housing because of an incident. So I show up and guess who I saw? 

MP: Uh, that would be me, the veteran that needed support. Go figure. I turned around and there you are and I’m like, “Oh, Al!” 

Yeah, I didn’t know what was going on around me. I just knew that the only person I trusted was you. 

AL: But that wasn’t the happy ending…

MP: …correct. ’Cause it wasn’t too far right after that. I was doing 80 down the freeway. Mind you, the wrong side of the freeway. And I called you and it was like, ‘Yo, man, I don’t wanna do this anymore.’

I just remember you telling me just slow down, pull over. 

AL:  I was like, ‘Hey, we’ve been here before. Let’s figure this out.’  And then you were MIA for a couple weeks.

MP: I believe I was in jail. 

AL: Yeah. Never visited anyone before at a detention facility. 

MP: Never got any visitors before, so when they said my name, I was like, ‘What?’ I didn’t know I had any friends. 

And then there you were again, man, you’d seemed to just pop up like some guardian angel in my life. 

AL: I remember talking over the phone on the other side of this glass wall, and saying, ‘Hey man, what are we gonna do now?’

MP: And that gave me a spark of hope, like – you came to visit me and that just showed me that, you know, regardless of me giving up on myself, people actually do care for me and are willing to go that extra step to try to help me.

And  I didn’t ever think that I was worthy of that. 

AL: Well, you are Marcus. And I would visit you anywhere, bro. 

MP:  I would not be here if it weren’t for you, Al. I never wanted to wake up the next day, and now I look forward to it. 

AL:  I struggle through a lot too.  When I was going through some stuff, you gave me some wisdom and guidance.  I learned a lot from you, and when  I became a father for the first time I looked up to you because you had a daughter and I saw you wanted to be the best father. You knew that there was a lot that you needed to make up for. 

You’ve been an inspiration to me.