Who are the People in your Neighborhood?

Every day when I ride the Metro, I pass by a homeless couple. Sometimes the pair is sleeping on the GSA building steam grates next to the sidewalk on the corner of E and 18th. Often, I find the pair on a bench across the street from my building.
I keep tabs on the homeless on my commute, but this couple stood out because they were a couple, clean, had a very well-behaved dog who was always on a leash, the man always had one eye open even when they were in "bed", and were friendly. Just encountering the couple for a few seconds nearly every work day, I could tell how much the man loved and protected the woman. I never went out of my way to talk to them, but for the past several months, when I would walk bye, the man always made sure to say hi to me, and would make sure to catch my eye to say hi if I didn't notice the couple.

Anyway, imagine my surprise to recognize the couple on the front page of Yahoo this morning. Of all the homeless people in the United States, it was two people I recognized.
When I read about Dante's background (kicked out at 14, same age as my younger brother) and the fact that the man was floored by the affluence in Virginia, and had never been to a shopping mall in nova (the park bench he sits on is probably 3-4 miles from one "ritzy" mall which is right on the metro line, and less than 10 from another. Seriously, that made me feel pretty humble. Here was someone I encounter regularly that had never even crossed the river to go to one of the Malls in Northern Virginia-something I take for granted every day. I kick myself a little for not knowing their first names until I read it on the front page of Yahoo, but now I can call them by name when I say hi to them next in my "neighberhood" (although that might freak them out a bit). I sincerely wish this couple well.

"Notice how the couple holds hands in this shot. "

The Yahoo Article