A Milwaukee woman travelled alone almost 800 miles to Washington D.C. to participate in the March for Our Lives last weekend.
Patricia Herzog-Mesrobian strolled up and down the Amtrak train from Chicago to Washington, D.C. with a smile on her face, one of the more social passengers on the train.
Herzog-Mesrobian spent 16 years working as a nurse in New York, and she describes her time in the hospital as the most amazing gift she has ever been given. Although she is “very anti-gun,” Herzog-Mesrobian says mental health should be part of the gun control conversation.
“I would see, on a daily basis, people coming into the clinic and therapists doing amazing work,” Herzog-Mesrobian said. “They are the firefighters of mental health. They are metaphorically running into burning buildings.”
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Now, living on the East Side of Milwaukee, Herzog-Mesrobian devotes her time to the development of local children, working as a paraprofessional for the past 20 years at the Maple-Dale Indian Hill School District. Although the Maple Dale community has a strong sense of safety, she admits that the active shooter drills are scary for her students.
“Going to this march is changing my life,” Herzog-Mesrobian said. “I’m a parent and I’m out here for these kids.”
Herzog-Mesrobian has attended several large demonstrations in the past, from the 2017 Tax March to Get Out the Vote. The self-labeled activist tried to decide between attending the March for Our Lives in Madison or Milwaukee on Thursday morning, before buying a last-minute train ticket to the nation’s capital, since several members of her family planned to be in D.C. on the same weekend.
“Nothing was put in place. I just sort of went!” Herzog-Mesrobian said. “I don’t even know where I’m going to sleep tonight.”
Having three relatives who have served in the military, she describes her family as “all-American.” Her father served in the Army, her late twin brother served in the Navy, and her nephew is a Marine. She admits that politics can be a very touchy subject when talking with her family.
“You have to be really careful because we’re so polarized. People are very sensitive. I don’t even know how to ask my family who they voted for,” Herzog-Mesrobian said.
She said that activism is something that comes naturally, and she has caught the fever.
“My mom and dad were poll workers for years,” Herzog-Mesrobian said. “You need to do what you have to do to help, so I’m going to be out there for the first time knocking on doors for 2020.”