Walking into Eugene Mosely’s apartment, there are so many pictures on the walls that it’s hard for a visitor not to allow them to grab their immediate attention. Pictures of his late parents, siblings, grandparents, nieces, nephews, and the people who he calls family, despite them not being a part of his bloodline.
“You are born with your blood family. You don’t have a choice. But I learned that there is another family that you can pick and choose,” Moseley said.
A self-described “talker,” Moseley makes friends everywhere he goes, and those connections have helped him throughout the many moves in his life, from his native Virginia to Colorado, California, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and finally to Georgia. Through all of these moves, which include a stint in the military, Mosely believes his steps have been ordained by God. He said the past decade-plus “has been totally spiritual”.
“My life has been so amazing,” Moseley, 68, said. “God has always had a plan for wherever I have been and where I will be next.”
In 2014, he found himself homeless with nothing but the clothes on his back. With the support of his caseworker, he was introduced to Atlanta Housing and applied for the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
He credits the Housing Choice Voucher Program with giving him the time, safety, and stability he needed to get back on his feet.
This year marks the 71st anniversary of Veterans Day, which takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 11. On a warm Thursday afternoon, a few days before the nation celebrated the men and women who protect this country, Mosley is wearing a new black U.S. Army Veteran cap. He hadn’t previously owned one, but proud of his eight-year career, he now routinely dons one of the two caps he has whenever he can.
“People always walk up to me and say thank you or say that they are in the military, too, whenever they see me in these hats,” Mosley said.
Yet another reason for Mosely to participate in the ancient art of conversation. Whether riding MARTA downtown or while taking walks around his apartment complex near Greenbriar Mall, Mosley says he’s kept an upbeat attitude since he was a kid.
Born in Buckingham, Virginia, Mosely remembers growing up in the tiny community located 150 miles from Washington, D.C. His late mother, Rosa Mae Mosley, was a domestic worker who lived with the family she worked for during the week, so her children would see her on Friday afternoons and on weekends. That helped Mosely and his siblings grow closer because they were dependent on each other. The brood grew even closer when their father, Stephen Mosely, passed away in his thirties.
Today, Mosley, the youngest of 12 children that his parents had together, has just three living siblings: Lucille Morris, Dorothy Martin, and Rosa Kinny. Though he was close to all of his siblings, who included five brothers, he has vivid memories of his sister Mattie, who passed away in her mid-30s from an aneurysm.
There is a photo of Mosley and Mattie above the white leather sectional in the living room. In the photo, Mosley is 17 years old and only a few weeks from leaving home for basic training and a new life as a soldier.
Mosley joined the military in 1975 and left in 1983. That service led to him receiving Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits, which he still utilizes today. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in July 2020. What began as a routine check-up saved his life, he recalled. A doctor at the VA recommended more tests, and the cancer was found. His fits surgery to remove the prostate took place in September 2020. The cancer has not returned.
“And I’m still here,” says Mosley, a self-described spiritual person.
“On Veterans Day, we honor the courage and sacrifice of all who have served and reaffirm our commitment to support them every day,” said Kai Mentzer, Director for the Atlanta VA Health Care System. “Veterans like Mr. Mosley show us that strength grows through resilience and healing. At the Atlanta VA Health Care System, we are committed partners in our patients’ journeys – providing care, connection, and unwavering support. We take pride in Atlanta’s vibrant community that supports Veterans year-round, demonstrating our city’s compassion, unity, and strength.”
During his military career, Mosley worked with the field artillery unit and served as a dental specialist. He knows full well how much those jobs and that career helped shape his life. As a civilian, Moseley held jobs of all kinds. He smiles when recalling his career in hospitality and as a Greyhound bus driver. During his interview with The Atlanta Voice, Mosley shared a story of his bus, full of sleeping passengers, nearly careening off a cliff in Pittsburgh one night. The bus stayed the course after a bit of a slippery ride, and once again Mosely chalked the entire experience up to God watching his back and ordering his steps.
“I don’t hear voices, I hear a voice. It’s the same voice I’ve heard since I was a child,” Moseley, now retired, said of the conversations he has with God.
A Bible rests on a table in the corner of the living room. A crystal angel blowing a horn stands sentry on the kitchen island.
A sports fan, Mosley attends Atlanta United matches and Atlanta Hawks games. He said he enjoys being around people and in the middle of the action. A week earlier, he attended a jazz concert at City Winery.
Music is a kind of therapy, he says. In his living room, there is a laminated collection of photos of Patti LaBelle on a tabletop, and a Nelly t-shirt draped over a chair. On another chair was a Kane Brown concert t-shirt. Mosley admitted that he didn’t attend the Brown concert, but enjoys all types of music.
“It’s my peace,” he says of music. “Music is where I go for serenity.”
Mosley also loves plants and has them inside the apartment and outside on his patio. There is life all around him, and one of his mottos is that we all have three things in common: Life, death, and living.
“What you do with your life and how you choose to live is up to you,” he said. “I used to think that I was afraid of dying, I just didn’t understand that God has a plan for wherever I will be.”
Living in his one-bedroom apartment, with his plants, which were brought inside off the balcony because of the weather conditions, Mosley says he’s happy and fulfilled.
“I have everything I could imagine I would ever have,” he said.