Childhood in Rural Tennessee

• 📍 Trae Crowder grew up in Salina, Tennessee, a small, rural town with no traffic lights or McDonald's, known for a world record smallmouth bass and back-to-back national marbles championships.
• 🏭 The town's primary employer was an Oshkosh B'gosh factory, which moved to Mexico after NAFTA, leading to significant economic decline.
• 💊 Coinciding with the factory's closure in the mid-90s, OxyContin and Percocet became prevalent in the region, contributing to the opioid epidemic.

Family Struggles with Addiction

• 💔 Crowder's family was deeply affected by the opioid crisis; his mother was arrested multiple times for selling pills and struggled with addiction.
• 😔 His aunt also became addicted and died, and his first cousin, who was like an older brother, died from an overdose.
• 💊 Crowder himself had a close call with opioid addiction after having his wisdom teeth removed, but his cousin's refusal to steal his father's pills served as a turning point.
• 👨‍👧‍👦 He and his younger sister lived with their father full-time, who was a loving but not overly disciplinary parent, while his grandfather served as the family's patriarch and authority figure.

Generational Impact and Parenting

• 👨‍👦 Crowder's father, who passed away from pancreatic cancer, was a beloved figure in town, and his community rallied to cover funeral costs.
• 👵 His mother has been clean from active drug use for about 15 years but still lives in rural Tennessee and has limited contact with her grandchildren.
• 👨‍👦 As a father, Crowder finds himself mirroring his own father's style, being more of a