Taylor Johnatakis: An Operation Love Wins Testimonial

This is a testimony of Marie Johnatakis, whose husband was ripped away from their family by the Biden regime.

Thanks to Stand in the Gap Foundation and their "Operation Love Wins" initiative, she was able to visit her husband, Taylor Johnatakis, in prison with their children.

After their visit, Marie was sent a survey detailing her visit, and agreed to have her story published. This is their story:

Q: How long had it been since you last saw your loved on in person?
A: 5 months for me and my older kids. 10 months for my two little boys.

Q: Describe what it felt like to reunite with them.
A: The moment my two little boys saw Taylor walk in the visitation room they ran up and hugged him. It had been almost a year since they had seen him and I wondered how it would be. Time melted away as we were able to be together. Being with Taylor filled holes in our hearts that couldn’t be filled any other way. I can’t even express the feeling that I felt being there with him, it was wonderful.

Q: What was the highlight of the trip for you?
A: The highlight of the trip was spending around 12 hours with Taylor over the weekend that we were there. It was a great reminder that this will end some day and that we will be together again.

Q: How did reconnecting with your loved one during the visitation trip impact you and your relationship with them?
A: For the little boys, talking in the phone is difficult for them. It was so great for them to sit on his lap, play games and be a listening ear to hear all of the “larger than life” stories they had to share with Taylor. For my older boys we were there long enough that they could talk to him about the big things and the little things. We played cards and told about the comings and goings. He told us all sort of stories about life in prison and we talked about what we wanted the future to look like. For all of us it was hopeful, beautiful and at the end, painful to have to leave him there. He does not belong there.

Q: What would you like to say to the donors who generously support Operation Love Wins and make
programs like this possible?
A: I can’t say thank you enough for your support and donations. It’s difficult to justify a trip when finances are impossible right now. It was so nice to not have to worry about how we could possibly afford visiting Taylor, even though we knew our family needed it so badly- all of us. The hotel had a swimming pool (which my kids LOVED) and the rental car was great. Flying was a first for a couple of my kids and it was all such a fun adventure. Not having the stress of worrying about how we could pay for a trip like this was an incredible miracle and blessing. We can’t say thank you enough!

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience with Operation Love Wins or the visitation trip that you think would be helpful for others to know?
A: We are just so grateful- thank you!

We want to thank Marie for having the courage to share her story. If you can, please donate to Stand in the Gap Foundation to help reunite families like the Johnatakises, even if it's only for 12 hours at a time.