Washington DC: David Gatlin

I honestly wasn't expecting anything fantastic from this trip. Since it was a school organized trip, I anticipated our tasks to be menial and tedious. I did not expect to meet someone who would change my thoughts entirely. Our first day in DC, we were allowed to explore Chinatown on our own. After dinner, Anna, Ali, and I explored the area - we saw interesting shops, enormous museums, and historic buildings. As we walked past a church, I saw a man sitting under his blanket, smoking Newports and watching us pass. I turned around to give him some money and greeted him with a smile and a huge "Hello." I began talking to him, and Anna and Ali soon joined me. David Gatlin had been homeless for several years, and his "spot" under the church had been his for quite some time. His only prized possession was an expensive bike he had bought in order to get around the city. At 56 years old, he had battled prostate cancer and won. However, he had developed colon cancer, which he was currently living with. He was a Vietnam Veteran and had fought on the battlefield for his country. It was sad to see that a man who had fought in a controversial war had been neglected and forgotten by the very people he had protected. Yet he took the time to ask us three Lincoln girls difficult questions about our perceptions of homelessness.

"What is your opinion of people that are homeless?"
"What is the difference between homelessness and houselessness?"
"What do you believe are the causes of homelessness?"
"What are the different steps that result in homelessness?"
"What are the effects of homelessness?"
"Do you think that most homeless people are alcoholics, drugees, or mentally ill?"

He asked us the most interesting things and after each of us said what we thought, he talked to us about the conventional stereotypes of homeless people. He described how he had gone to American University, Howard University, and Georgetown University and yet he was sitting on the stoop with no place to go. The scariest thought occured to all three of us - even as an educated person with a good family, there is always that possibility of being homeless. There are no exceptions to this fact. After twenty minutes, we had developed a wonderful relationship with David, who we visited regularly during our stay in DC. The last time we saw him, he called us our family. He told us how we had changed his life and that he would never forget us. I believe that that was our purpose in DC - to make a change in someone's life through conversation. I will never forget David or his kindness and love in DC.

Alexandra Lundgren