Daniel’s friends asked him to officiate their wedding in Lakeland last weekend, so we flew down to Florida for the first time in a long time (in fact, Daniel hadn’t been back since we moved over a year ago). It was a weekend of reunions and reminiscences.

Though most of the people we hung out with are Daniel’s friends and family, I did get the chance to see my friend, Amanda, in Orlando for an hour or so.

Seeing old friends is a great reminder of the progress we’ve made. We think our lives are boring until we’re forced to summarize them to people who no longer experience our routines firsthand, alongside us. Everything is reanimated. We defend, reflect, reconsider. We begin to see ourselves as the protagonist in a grand narrative like we did when we were young and dreaming. We see each other through new eyes. We see we’ve grown up.

As we drove along the wide Florida roads, I realized that Virginia really feels like home, maybe more than Florida ever did. I am swaddled in the mountains, set at ease by this community. Life is richer here.

All I need now is for my Florida friends to move to Virginia. That would be heaven.