IT WASN’T UNTIL I was heading toward
the “Welcome to Ohio” sign in August
2014, my car loaded with boxes and Ra-
venswood fading in my rearview, that I
realized just how hard it was going to be to
leave West Virginia. The days and weeks
that followed were filled with homesick-
ness, adjustment and learning the ways
of a new community—and how to share
a road with those flavorful Ohio drivers.
I left West Virginia to join my fiancé,
Doug, in Ohio. My saving grace was
being able to keep my job at West Vir-
ginia Executive magazine. This enabled
me to hold on to a small piece of home,
and I learned to submerge myself in West
Virginia life from afar. I clung to every
detail I could about the Mountain State.
The move—and the desperation to hold
on—made me a better and more commit-
ted employee as well as an ambassador
for Almost Heaven.
We made our home in Canal Win-
chester, a quaint, peaceful, Mayberry-type
suburb southeast of Columbus. The area
was flat, albeit beautiful, and there were
many people with West Virginia roots
there. Slowly, charming Canal became
my home away from home.
The topic of one day moving back to
West Virginia was not foreign to us. Doug
knows how much I love my home among
the hills, and he has been bitten by the
love bug as well. He has never been shy
about telling people how amazing West
Virginia is and encouraging people to
visit. When I wanted to have our wed-
ding in Fayetteville and invite all of our
Ohio family and friends, he was excited
by the idea of sharing the Mountain State
with many who had never experienced
6
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
it first hand. If I became an ambassador
for West Virginia when I moved to Ohio,
Doug became my wingman.
We were sitting on the patio at Brew
Dog USA in Canal, the new U.S. head-
quarters of the Scottish brewery, in May
when Doug told me about a job offer that
could take us home to West Virginia.
I was immediately on guard. Could I
be one of the lucky ones who gets to go
back home?
I worried about moving home be-
cause I didn’t want him to take a job
that wouldn’t make him happy just so
I could get back to my roots. It wasn’t
until we were watching the West Virginia
episode of “Parts Unknown” and he both
cheered and cringed in all the right places
that I knew I didn’t have to worry. West
Virginia was already a part of him.
The opportunity to come home to West
Virginia is an extraordinary gift. I am
lucky all the random pieces of our lives
shifted to make this possible. Not only
do I get to return to family, friends and
familiar ground, but I can more actively
live a pro-West Virginia life rather than
sitting on the sidelines in Ohio, cheering
on others who fight every day for
our future.
Don’t get me wrong—our little
corner of Canal Winchester, Ohio,
has been a beautiful blessing. This Mid-
west suburb has left its mark on this
In
L-R: Doug, Jennife
r and Kathy and Ber
t Tate
at Village Wines in
Can
al Winchester, Ohi
o.
Mountaineer. Canal was a good chapter
in our story, but as my husband pointed
out to me in the chaos of the move, “The
best is ahead of us in West Virginia.”
If you have recently moved back home
to West Virginia or will be moving back
soon, we want to hear from you! Send
me an email at jl