By Ronnie Mosley, CapturingGrace.org
Some young men carry themselves with a quiet steadiness that feels older than their years. Danyil is one of them.
He is only eighteen, but already his life has been marked by loss, displacement, and survival.
Danyil was born in Kherson. When he was three years old, his mother died. He was too young to fully understand what had happened, and for years those caring for him tried to shield him from the truth. He passed from one caretaker to another, first to people who knew his mother, then to his grandmother, and later to his aunt after his grandmother died.
His father was mostly absent.
As a boy, Danyil grew up with the ache of knowing that other children had something he did not. He remembered feeling different. Some children reminded him of that difference by making fun of him or keeping their distance. It hurt, especially when he was younger.
But his story is not only about who was missing.
It is also about who stayed.
Photographer and storyteller Ronnie Mosley visited Last Bell for three and a half intense days at the end of March. He conducted several interviews with our clients in order to tell their stories. Discover the story behind Capturing Grace and how the life of Ronnie’s daughter Christina continues to inspire this work at capturinggrace.org/about-us.