I am writing to say how proud I am to live in this city.

It was a normal, sunny day last Saturday, and I was watching my dad’s dog, Grayson. I went about my day taking him to the many different dog-friendly places surrounding Portland.

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Grayson took off in Portland last weekend, but passers-by, family, friends and even the police helped make sure that he got home safe. Photo courtesy of Lexi Rice

When he was brought home, the door was left open and he ran. Grayson ran all over Portland, across the busiest streets: Ocean Avenue, across Washington, Washington back down Ocean, to Forest Avenue and wherever else those paws took him that day.

I can’t even explain to you the worry I felt. This was a well-trained dog, who’d been by my side all day long, and now he was sprinting the streets of Portland and was nowhere to be found.

With the help of bystanders and my amazing family and friends, working as a team, we had at least five cars in search of this pup, and many volunteers were on foot.

I cannot tell you the sense of community I felt in this moment. Portland is such a beautiful community, filled with even more amazing people. They did not stare away when asked for help, and there wasn’t even a moment where they thought twice about it.

They kindly dropped what they were doing on this beautiful Saturday, and they did everything in their power to get Grayson home safe. And they succeeded.

To all the people who helped bring this sweet pup home – the kids at the park, the young men riding next to us in the yellow Hummer, the helpful woman who followed us along the way, the Portland police officer on duty and everyone else – thank you! You have shown me what it means to be a great community.

Lexi Rice

Portland

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