Dear Maine,

We first met on the grey sand beaches of Wells. You introduced my childhood imagination to tide pools. I thought they were my own personal aquarium. Each day they were restocked, again and again.

You gave me friendships. I spent each summer as a child on your shores with the same kids year after year. Those kids continue to be my lifelong friends whom I now Zoom with and whose children I watch grow up on Instagram.

You gave me my favorite band. I was only 18 when I headed to Oxford Plains Speedway to spend three nights with my friends and the Grateful Dead. What a long, strange trip that became.

You gave me my love of the outdoors. I was barely a freshman at Northeastern University when we decided to drive all night just to see you and the sunrise off the coast of Acadia National Park.

You gave me my life partner: that girl from the County I met online, whom I later proposed to at Chimney Pond—and not Baxter Peak—because you and Pamola decided that day that no one was summiting Katahdin.

You gave me my children. Kind, smart, respectful young adults who have started to explore the world but know they too can always come home to your welcoming arms.

You gave me shelter. During a time like no other, you have been a beacon of hope. I didn’t have to leave you for months, yet you kept me sane by offering even more new places to explore along your coast and mountains.

As we go forward, I hope I can give to you as much as you have given me, ever since that first visit to your southern beaches as a child.

Thank you, Maine.

I love you dearly.

Gallivan is the founder and CEO of Chimani, a maker of mobile app guides to national parks.