Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t meet your best friend at a library story time. Pagelyn and I met when our oldest boys were babies. They are 1 month apart in age and became best friends, possibly without choice as we started hanging out together all the time. We both added an additional child to our families and, oh, the adventures we had with our little troop, all three boys doting on “baby Perrin.”

In the summer of 2019, they moved to Florida. It was a huge adjustment for all of us (understatement). I saw Pagelyn in February 2020, mere weeks before the pandemic shut everything down, and then we kept in touch via texting and Marco Poloing before finally coordinating a time to get together in person again. If you could’ve seen our embrace at the airport…

Pagelyn and I drove to Panama City Beach for a few days of hanging out and then Bryant and the boys joined us on Saturday so we could take some family pictures on the beach. Initially, we had planned on taking photos right outside our condo on the beach, but Pagelyn and I had gone to St. Andrews State Park the day before and loved having more options there (the water plus sand dunes and rock outcroppings and tall grasses!). It ended up being the perfect choice.