There aren’t many things that bring people together more than having a common interest. This is especially true for bowling. Bowling has given me the opportunity to make great friends that will last a lifetime.
I have lived in four different states in my life. I turn 30 this year. It wasn’t until I moved to college that I left New York for Florida. So, in the last 12 years, I’ve moved 4 times. Along the way, I have made great friends. Many of them I have met through the bowling leagues I have participated in while traveling through this great country of ours.
Bowling has been an influence in my life since I was about three years old. Most people can’t say the same. Many people pick it up later in life. All my friends in high school played baseball, basketball, or soccer. I was on the bowling team. Because of this, I tended to befriend the kind of people that most people my age are not friends with, or would never be friends with.
This has been a great blessing, because these friendships have helped me get through some of the most difficult parts of my life. They have also been part of some of the best moments of my life. I am very lucky to say this.
Bowling has given me friendships that some may call unusual. Every year, twice a year, I travel to Las Vegas with some of my friends that I met in a bowling league while living in Florida. There is usually a group of 5-10 of us. I am the only one who is under 60 years old.
I recently moved to Chicago. In my bowling league in Scottsdale, Arizona, which I was a part of for the few years I lived there, I had another group of guys that I quickly made friends with. All these guys were retired. Not the typical group a guy in his late 30s would hang out with, but they are a great group of guys that he shared a common bond with.
Even after moving to so many different places, the one thing that has been a constant in my life has been bowling. I know that no matter where I move, I can go bowling and find a good group of people with whom I share a common interest and can develop lifelong friendships.
