Rob is originally from Norfolk, Virginia but has been temporarily livin here in Washington since January. When I first met Rob he mentioned that he was only visiting for 7 months and heading back home mid August. Of course back then I wasn’t worried about it really but as the days went by that date started creeping up quickly. And just like that it was august 15th and Rob gave our group chat the "I’m leaving a week from today... I’m down to skate pretty much any evening just lemme know"... a message I was not ready to receive.

For those who were lucky enough to meet Rob, you would know that hes a pretty awesome dude. To most hes known as Rob or Big Rob, but he proudly likes to refer to himself as a "Professional Husband" since hes lucky enough to have that as his full time job. Not only is Rob a solid skater, he is also one the best hype men to exist; that paired with his "BRAND NEW IPHONE 14 PLUS MAX ULTRA PACKED WITH 1 TERABYTE OF STORAGE" hes always offering to film the homies whenever someones working on a line. 

Rob stumbled his way into our lil friend group after noticing some dudes skating a neglected side street in tacoma that we call A Court. Even though I myself was new to the tacoma scene at the time, Rob was brand new since he ain’t from round these here parts. I believe I met rob around the same time we installed the tree rail @ a court and tbh I thought rob was already homies with the Authentic crew, come to find out later I was wrong lol. 

As time went on we found out quickly that Rob has got it like that; large bag of tricks, great board control, & solid style that you can see in all of his clips. Not only was Rob a good skater but also a great teacher. I personally learned a lot from sensei Rob since we usually started off our sesh's with a gentleman’s game of skate. Although I cant give all credit to Rob, he was definitely a big part of the confidence I gained & also what felt like a sudden spike in my skateboarding progression. 

Rob was actually the first person, besides me & Edgar, to see the foundation we uncovered in fed back when it was all thorns and rubble. Edgar & I had high hopes for the new diy spot but Rob was the first doubter. After putting in some work and uncovering more and more @ the spot he became a believer and liked seshing there whenever no one else was free to skate.

At the time you are reading this, Rob has left the pacific northwest to embark on yet another one of his journeys across the US. Him & his wife will be heading back to their hometown in Virginia to reconnect with family and hopefully start one their own. I personally will miss rob a lot since it feels like an older sibling leaving home, but i know we’re all gonna miss that dude.

Good luck on your next adventure rob, it was a blessing to be able to sk8 and spend time w/you. Thanks for visiting, I wish you the best.

p.s. if you got this far i want to thank you for reading my first article. hope you have a great rest of your day :)