Jim Dankovich has been to prison on more than 500 occasions.
He no longer has to recite his son's prison number, tell the guards his license plate number or present identification. They know his name and compliment him on his son's behavior each time he goes to visit. He's a regular.
Chris, Jim's son, who has been incarcerated since 2007 for murdering his mother, has a support system in Jim that many prisoners lack. His father hasn't left his side since the incident occurred, and continues to support and advocate for him from the outside.
Jim readily admits his son committed a heinous crime, but he won't turn his back on him. Why?
"He's still a person," Jim said. "He may have done something horrible, but he's still a person, and he needs support."
Through involvement with the Prison Creative Arts Project, which is an organization that showcases and encourages the work of incarcerated artists, Jim has advocated and attended numerous events in support of juveniles in the prison system.
Chris won't be getting out until, at the earliest, April 2030. Jim plans to continue to advocate and support his son, but he has one fear.
"What bothers me the most isn't what I'm doing, it's what - if something happens to me - I wouldn't be able to do. That's the part that haunts me," he said. "If (Chris) serves his full sentence, I'll be 94 or 95 when he gets out. There's a good chance I won't quite make it."
A STORY OF COMPASSION
Troy resident Jim Dankovich sits holding an old picture of his son Christopher Dankovich on Thursday Dec. 5, 2013 at the First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, Mich. Christopher was put in an adult prison at the age of 15 for murdering his mother Diane Michele.