Hi everyone,

This is Leia, and this is the post that you didn’t want to read. It’s a post that I didn’t want to have to write.  But my sweet Andrea passed away yesterday. She transitioned while listening to one of her favorite bands. Our good friend Melisa was there with us and has been here with us from the beginning.

I imagined somehow that Andrea would write this post, even as absurd as that sounds. I knew I’d have to write this post, but somehow I am still wholly unprepared. I’m a slow writer; Andrea is the one who could quickly gather all the necessary information and provide a brief report. She’s a journalist and documentarian.

If you’re reading this, it’s because Andrea touched your life in some way, in HER way. You grieve with me, knowing what the world lost. But we also hold close what she meant to us and how that will live on for eternity through our memories, through her words and her art, and through the young people that she mentored.

There’s so much more that should be said, but I’m just too heartbroken. I’ll have to leave it there for now.