Dear Portland,

Y'all some tough MFers. Thank you for everything. It's time for me to take a break, practice some selfcare and make spaces for more in our community to step-up and lead us through this next stretch. I'm not saying we're done with the sucky and painful parts; I'm saying I trust that you all can take it from here (one way or another).

It's hard to let go of things we've invested so much of our time and identity into. It's scary to push ourselves forward without the guidance or vision of others. But placing trust in ourselves and our abilities to make things better is always a worthy endeavor. Making space for others to lead is important too. We can all recognize how unhealthy it is to have a few out-of-touch gilded leaders make decisions on our behalf. That's why it's important to build our communities up by giving more of our neighbors' leadership training and experience.

You are going to make mistakes. Some of them are going to be terrible mistakes. That's something we all have to confront. But when you make those mistakes, I hope you learn as I did that you are still worthy of love and respect AND that there are people in this world who will step up and help you fix things. They may not always be the 1st or the 13th or the 21st person you ask, but if you keep looking and asking you will find each other.

We believe in you. You got this. Now get it done.