One person's journey in life often makes for interesting reading. Two-Lane Livin' has offered me the challenge to find and celebrate those in our region whose life journeys led them to us. As I myself am not from West Virginia, my new quest begins here.

I have lived in several States in the U.S., the last, North Carolina. I knew nothing of West Virginia, jokes or otherwise. At a night job I had in Statesville a new guy was hired and he was from West Virginia. Almost immediately I heard another ask, "Why would someone leave West Virginia to come to North Carolina?" Another person replied, "Because that's as far as a tank of gas would get him!" The new guys' reason for his journey was work.

Having two jobs, my second being landscape work, I met a new hire there who noted he was from West Virginia. About that time, I suffered a family tragedy and could not work. The stress and anger I felt put me in the hospital for two weeks. A blood clot had formed in my lung and the doctors said if it had traveled another inch I'd be pushing up daisies!

My new friend suggested I go to West Virginia to visit a friend he had there. That friend invited me to stay until I recovered from my life-threatening ordeal. Never in my life had I experienced such care from a total stranger! I was afforded trips to the Veteran’s Hospital for out-patient treatments among other kindnesses. It was through this unselfish love that my eyes were opened to the people here in West Virginia.

It took nine months to recover during which I decided it was in this beautiful State of West Virginia I was going to stay and live. Life has been challenging for the eight years that I've been here and that suits me fine.

An elderly man once told me, "In West Virginia a man can live his life full-measure." Apparently so, as the in-flux of people from other States is increasing. My mission now is to find those souls that sought refuge in West Virginia, from out there, to here.