Danny was lord and master of all he surveyed. He was the emperor of his small world, the wise man who drew the rapt attentions of his servers. He commanded the very air around him and played the emotions of his family like a harp. But he was, after all, just a little boy with AIDS.

Danny's mother and father both died from complications of AIDS by the time he was four. Shortly after his mother's death Danny developed symptomatic AIDS and was cared for by his grandparents who were already devastated by the death of their daughter, Danny's mother. A great consolation to them all was the support and care shown by their neighbors and townspeople. They never felt the isolation that some families experience.

Danny had a little stuffed monkey. When Danny accepted the catheter line to his heart, he steadfastly refused to let the nurse put one on "Mooch". "Mooch doesn't want it", he said, and looked for the hole in his little friend's heart. As Danny's illnesses progressed and the morphine quieted this lively little boy, his deep and sensitive soul seemed to become even more powerful. His remaining family was in anguish as he let go quietly of his young life. Danny died at five years of age.