Dear Liza,
You are coming to visit! I am so excited!
It has been years since you were in Portland, and some things haven’t changed.
Slappycakes is still here, and we will be heading there for breakfast.
We can still go to the zoo, although you might not fit inside this log anymore!
But in the four years since you’ve been here, lots has changed. The riots of 2020 and the pandemic have effected the politics, and economy, of Portland.
This statue of Harvey Scott, up on Mt. Tabor, was taken down by people who disagreed with his being “put up on a pedestal”, literally. Mr. Scott was a rich, important man in the history of Portland, but his beliefs about women’s and other groups’ civil rights have not aged well. Other statues, like Teddy Roosevelt and even Abraham Lincoln, have been put away until decisions are made about where they should be.
And since it is now early spring instead of late summer, there will be more tulips than black-eyed Susans.
Cities are living things, with millions of people creating them everyday. They grow and change just like you and I do. But we take what comes and do what we can to make it better.
See you soon, sweetie!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 