The first time we met, I was very small. Just a child playing carelessly in the sand and splashing around in the tide. As I got older, I began to cherish our time together more and more. You were no longer simply an outlet for building sandcastles and catching crabs. You became a safe place, a sort of unknown haven. A place that made all worries and uncertainty disappear. A place that inspired and infected my spirit with a sense of freedom and unrestraint. A place that made my walls collapse into the sand as if I had no secrets or a past that began anywhere but in that salt-filled air.

When I was young, you used to mean so much more to me than I realized. A place that brought my family together without interruption. A place where I’d meet new friends, not ones that I would keep, but people that come into your life and help to occupy the short amount of time we were given. A place to make memories that I won’t forget for as long as I live. When we grow old and have children of our own, we will tell stories of our lighthearted childhoods spent wrestling with our siblings and playing on little league sports team. We’ll recall our high school memories that we thought were going to be the highlights of our lives, but thankfully were not even close. And a grin will form on our faces as we remember those times we spent playing in the sand and swimming out to sandbars. The nights we spent walking along the shoreline as we let the water rush up over our bare feet. And the dark-filled midnights spent watching the lighthouse continuously rotate and mesmerize our saltwater-absorbed eyes.

Thank you for being a safe place. For allowing me to read for hours on end; for never making me worry and for serving as mental therapy to help give me a break from my not-so-structured life. Thank you for being beautiful and never seizing to amaze me. I will forever look back at the photos of little kids playing in the sand and kids pushing each other into the ocean. I will always remember the lighthouse and the way the sea breeze whips my hair into wispy, waved strands. And I will never forget the feel of the air on my tanned skin, the way the salt smells off the water and the endless ocean of opportunities.

If I close my eyes right now, I can smell the salt water and feel the breeze brush against my cheeks.