On the surface, Mike and Hunter Peebles could be the prototypical average American parents. Mike works in commercial real estate; Hunter owns a dance studio. Mike coaches basketball; Hunter takes her dancers to competitions. Their three children -- Caramy, Blake, and Tucker -- range in age from 13 to 18. The family attends church regularly.
But would an average family decide to homeschool Blake so he could pursue his dream of becoming a professional gamer? It shows a willingness to defy convention, to step outside the box everyone says they want to exit but somehow never do.
Where, exactly, did that come from?
First, there’s Caramy. The youngest Peebles was born with Kabuki syndrome, a rare disorder that comes with a host of health and developmental problems. When she was six, she needed a kidney transplant; Mike gave her one of his. Besides having to endure the regular trips to the doctor and hospital, Caramy also deals with various learning difficulties. So rather than attend public school, she is tutored at home and has been for most of her educational career.
Then, there’s Hunter. She owns one of the most successful dance studios in
North Carolina, “if not the whole country,” Mike says proudly. But when she was a high school student dreaming of becoming a dancer, her father discouraged it as impractical. Major in dance at college? Forget it. She’d never make a living that way. Cue tears and heartbreak.