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.”

The post The Milwaukee Woman Who Took a Last-Minute Train appeared first on Gun March 2018.