Scott Matlick

Each issue we link up with Rachel Miller's Love Letters to Tucson blog for a letter from a Tucson inhabitant about why they love this fair city. This month: for Scott Matlick, the colors of Tucson's mountain ranges spell home. Photos by Rachel Miller

"Dear Tucson,

Tucson is home.

One of my first jobs in Tucson required a drive north on Houghton Road, above the river, early in the morning. When I started in the short days of early January, it first presented itself as yet another dark, quiet trip on a lonely road. Serene and relaxing, but perhaps unremarkable. As the year inched forward and sunrise began to creep into my morning commute, the majestic colors of the young sunlight rebounding off the towering Santa Catalinas straight ahead silently, but definitively, convinced me that Tucson was my home.

There is something deeply personal about the proximity of the Tucson mountain ranges. Rather than a monstrous geological feature at the outskirts of town, there is a certain detail of character that one feels climbing the ever changing flora and climate of Mt. Lemmon Highway. They are not "the" mountains, they are our mountains.

Similarly, there is an oddly juxtaposed unity between the vastness of 1,000,000 residents and the singular smile owned by one of the Contrerases at El Guero Canelo.

We all bleed red and blue, care about green on all levels, and wake up and go to sleep to infinite shades of orange and magenta. Tucson is family. Tucson is opportunity. Tucson is local. Tucson is passion. Tucson is home."

- Scott Matlick

Scott, wife Annie and daughter. Photo courtesy of Scott Matlick.

Scott generously shared his letter (first shared on Tucson Young Professionals) with Love Letters to Tucson as part of TYP's #thisistucson campaign. The campaign's mission is to attract and retain young professionals here in Tucson. Earlier this year TYP launched a city-wide social media hashtag campaign in order to promote pride and positivity in our city. That's something we can all get behind. Scott is the Development Manager for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona.

Do you have a love letter for Tucson? Visit Rachel's blog to submit one.