How do you meet People When you Move to Florida?

Welcome to Paradise.

When you (finally) make the decision to move to Florida, chances are that every one of your friends and family may not be able to make the move with you.  What do you do?  I moved to Florida 20 years ago this December and didn't know another person in my town when I got here.

Not a big deal, between working and meeting clients I got to know a ton of people and made some good friends.  In fact, I thought it would be interesting to see how my son made friends as he started elementary school.  Up until now, we picked his friends but, wondered what would happen when mom and dad were left out of that loop.

Honestly, I thought it would be pretty easy for him to make friends, he's kind to other kids and has a million interests, so we weren't very surprised when our son made a bunch of friends in first grade that were quality kids.  He has his skateboard friends and his wakeboard friends plus school and church - excellent kiddos all the way around.  It's important to have a group that 'gets' you.

Now, our son loves action sports and occasionally I wonder if his buddies understand what he does.  I was having a business lunch two months ago with a sports agent talking about Rocky and his worst injury came up.  Rocky's mom and I did not compete in his sports so cannot really advise on all aspects of safety relative to his actions.  At any rate, I was describing a "deep water start" that Rocky got injured doing.  He got a cable wrapped around his legs and was pulled underwater backwards at about 20mph.  As I was describing this to the sports agent, I suddenly burst into tears in the middle of a restaurant.  I was embarrassed and confused, then Rocky's mom told me it was because I was with a friend of mine and not "my people" when I was describing the worst hour of my life.

So, I want Rocky to find his people and feel safe when the world may not.  Recently, Rocky got to compete in the World Wakeboard Nationals competition in Auburndale, Florida.  He got to tell people he was "going to nationals" and mastered a few new tricks along the way.  He placed better than we expected but the best part was meeting a new friend.   Rocky's friend "Cinco" has been bitten by an alligator, competes in wake boarding and is incredibly skilled.  They spent a day together building a DIY skatepark in a parking lot between wake boarding sessions for fun.  After that we traveled to another lake and Rocky and Cinco swam and talked about their various injuries, accomplishments and goals.  And there was no crying.  

Rocky found "his people"

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