Few things in life snatch you up and don’t ever let you go. At least in the same way surfing manages to grab us all. Some of us take a first “big kid job” and never look back, but that’s becoming far less common. Many grow up playing organized sports that we love, but barring superhuman athletic abilities the average Joe is bound to move on to other interests once the competition gets tough. Relationships come and go. Even friendships evolve and sometimes drift away. But not surfing. Surfing is truly made for lifers. Or maybe there’s something inherent about surfing that makes most of us lifers. You catch a first wave, never forget the rush, and pretty much chase that same feeling until the day you kick the bucket (if you’re lucky).
Now hang out with a group of lifers and the passion is going to be infectious. Hear how Dean Randazzo battled cancer with a surfboard tucked away by his hospital bed and you’ll never take another wave for granted. Listen to the story of a man selling a single surfboard, sending somebody off to catch their first wave, and having them come back to tell they’re now obsessive, salty skinned stoked lifers themselves, and you’ll know you’re lucky to be a lifetime member of our crazy (not so) little club.
