Peepaws

For whatever reason, my best friends resemble somebody’s grandfather. I lovingly refer to them as “peepaw”. This is a story of the two peepaws in my life, Alex and Tucker.

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When I say that they are like peepaws, imagine the mannerisms of an old man shuffling around the kitchen trying to find the peanut butter in the cabinet. The kind where they lean up against everything and you’d expect them to stay locked down to their chair that sits in the living room. Both Alex and Tucker love to fish, be outdoors, and old school country music.

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Alex has been my best friend since my sophomore year in high school. I felt bad for poor buddy that he wasn’t catching any fish ever so I decided to take him under my wing and show him where all the good spots were. We started out fishing at some ponds and had some success, which led to us taking countless trips to Chocowinity, NC, to chase fish in his canoe.

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We graduated to fishing local bass tournaments together through high school and college where he eventually surpassed me in skill. The apprentice had finally passed the master. Turns out that it is hard to practice fishing when you are at the University of North Carolina without a boat. Regardless, I spent a lot of my free weekends going back to Greenville to hunt and fish with him.

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We’ve spent countless hours on the water at the crack of dawn just for the chance to catch some slimy green fish and make some memories. We have our yearly trip to catch stripers (rockfish) on top water and believe me, it’s amazing to see those fish come all the way out of the water to hit your lure (think Jaws).

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Nowadays, we call each other for a few minutes to talk and see what’s up. Occasionally, I’ll go home and play some poker with the guys.

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Alex and I have become more like brothers as we have grown up. We’ve been there for a lot of crucial parts in each other’s lives and always pick up just like we left off, even if we haven’t spoken in forever. We can talk about life or just crack jokes like it’s nothing. Our conversations always end up being just what I needed.

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On a side note, this guy used to be a menace in rec-league basketball. He resembled a country Dennis Rodman, diving out of bounds to save loose balls. It was very funny.

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I met Tucker on the Carolina Facebook group page for incoming freshmen. I was looking for a roommate and found this guy. We bonded over basketball, fishing, and Jesus and never looked back.

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He has essentially been my roommate for the past 4 years. Technically, he was my roommate for 3 semesters and my housemate for the other 4. He tried to get away from me when we moved out of the dorms, but I wouldn’t let him.

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Tucker is similar to Alex in many ways, but also different. Where Alex could talk to a brick wall being the social butterfly that he is, Tuck tends to keep more to himself. It’s not because he doesn’t have anything to say though. Tuck is one of the deepest thinkers I know and is always down for a deep conversation. He just likes his alone time. He’d much rather go out to the lake by himself for a day than sit around the house playing video games or talking.

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He's an adventurer. He’s always buying new pets to keep in his room. He’s had at least 15 fish since we’ve lived in Chapel Hill (not a good track record thus far). He’s also always down to go try something out. He has pushed me to be less content with being comfortable and is always looking to explore out in the wild.

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This guy goes out to the lake and builds a fire to cook his food over just because. I don’t even think he did Boy Scouts. Shoot I did. You don’t see me roasting weenies out by the lake.

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More than a few times we have taken late-night Cookout trips and talked about life. His understanding of the world and perspective is something I appreciate greatly. He has also been with me during some crazy times in my life, and I appreciate every moment I have with him before graduation.

Believe it or not, these guys have met before. The week before college started, Tucker came down to Greenville and went striper fishing with me and Alex.

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We wore them out too.

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We probably caught around 20 stripers and a few trout in about an hour and a half. Tuck fit right in with us and I knew we were going to be good friends.

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Those two guys have been great friends to me for as long as I’ve known them. People say you are who you surround yourself with. If that’s true, then I must be alright.

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P.S. Shout out to Alex and Tucker for putting up with me all these years.