I loved living in Oregon until I didn't. I don't know what happened exactly, but there was a definite switch in the whole vibe of the state after 2015. Part of it was me and becoming a father to two kids. My priorities shifted. I wanted something familiar. I wanted a known concept. I knew what their life would be like if they grow up in Virginia, because I grow up in Virginia. I didn't know how they would grow up in Portland, OR, especially the Portland of the 2020s. The house-less problem. The drug problem. The gang violence. The underfunded schools. It was more than my wife and I could take on mentally. We just wanted a big yard, dark skies at night, and a place to grow vegetables. A place where we felt safe.Â
I will always have found memories of my time in Oregon. It's just become a place to visit now. It's no longer home.
