In 1996, Ross was my best friend. We’d spend all day skating the gas station, the paint store, the synagogue, and Weaver Park. At night we’d sit in his basement playing MarioKart and watching Yo! MTV Raps for Outkast videos. Last month, Ross got married to Jesame and they have a newborn son named Arlowe. I attended the wedding on a farm in Western North Carolina. I saw some folks I hadn’t seen since those days of skating the gas station. It was everything I love about North Carolina — the informality, the nature, the sincerity. Though we move on with our lives, these things stay the same.
