Two years ago, when I was researching my book about my grandparents, George and Barbara Bush: A Great American Love Story, I came across boxes of letters that they had written over the years. I especially loved finding the letters that my grandfather had written from Walker’s Point, our family home in Kennebunkport. I can see him looking out at the ocean while putting pen to paper, and I can feel his love for this place in every word he put down. In one letter to his family, he wrote: “There is something about this place that just gets into one’s very soul. Don’t you agree?”

Maine is where I took my first breath and cried my first tears. Maine is where I smiled for the first time. Maine is where I said “I do” to my husband. Maine is where I’ve spent my happiest days.

I love the freezing cold water that shocks me to my core sometimes. I love the sticky, salty air and the fierce storms that create crashing waves against the rocky coastline. I love the orange and pink sunsets and brisk, quiet, early mornings when everyone else is asleep. I love the good, hardworking people.

Like my grandfather, Maine is my Anchor to Windward. I keep coming back year after year, and the second I have to leave the countdown begins for the next time I’ll be back. The next time I’ll feel a true fulfillment, a true joy.

Sosa is the author of George and Barbara Bush: A Great American Love Story