“Josh. I just need a vacation!!” I said this at the end of August after a long summer working from home without extra childcare for my three boys. The work and keeping them entertained was massively draining and I just needed some sort of short adventure to refill my tank.

Two weeks later Millie contacted me and asked if I would fly to NC to photograph her adoption ceremony.

“Y E S!!!”

“Millie, all I want to do is see the beach. Just take me to the beach. All I need is to see it and smell it for 30 minutes… and put my feet in it.”

Millie drove 30 minutes out of her way to get me to Top Sail Beach, NC after her longest day ever shooting a lifestyle session, prepping for and traveling to Jacksonville for her son’s highly anticipated adoption and then celebrating at a restaurant with her friends. She is definitely a giver. When we finally arrived ALL the beach accesses were closed from Hurricane Florence’s destruction. We drove a little further and they were still closed. I couldn’t turn around there, I still had to see it.

I climbed right under the rickety wooden stairs that were closed and climbed up the dune. I was stunned. It looked like the scene of a movie. Wooden railings tossed around like litter. The walkways were ripped from their landing place and were broken off into a 10 foot fall to the flat sand beneath. It was a cliff. I stood there for 2 minutes observing the destruction and trying to concentrate on the beautiful ocean. The eye-wall had landed right where I was standing and it was a terrible sight. I kept wondering how long it would take them to rebuild this place.

I went back down looking both ways and hoping that no one would see me and scold me for trespassing and taking a look.

Millie, God bless her, told me she would wake up at 6 AM and drive me to Wrightsville Beach before my flight. She got up after her exhausting and exhilarating adoption day and drove me to the ocean again. This time we got what we had hoped for!

My soul was recharged in mere minutes of running around the sandy beaches and splashing in the ocean. Thanks Millie, you made my dreams come true.