Who says “You can’t go home again?”

Just ask Pine Hill residents Ron and Joan Dooley.

From April 5th to April 23rd, the Orangeburg County couple shattered that myth.

For the last three years, the couple had been discussing the possibility of boarding their motor home and, along with their Shih Tzu Baxter, going back home to visit the various homes they had lived in during their 39 years of marriage.

“My health had kept me from doing this,” explains Ron. “We decided we may not have this opportunity again.”

“I guess it kind of tells our family a story. We planned to visit places that were part of our childhood,” says Joan.

According to Ron, “This trip is just like one our parents talked about doing. All four died before they had the opportunity to do so before their retirement.”

After traveling some 1,000 miles by motorhome and another 1,000 miles by car on side trips, the Dooley’s had time to assimilate and reflect on their venture.

“You’re not always pleased with what you find,” says Ron.

First-stop — Spartanburg:

“Spartanburg was a real disappointment,” Ron said.

“When we lived there, I worked with part of the Rockefeller Group. They were on a mission to build homes for underprivileged families with all the amenities of upper income housing including basketball goals and a pool.”

“Going back 30 years later, we built a slum.”

“All is gone. The pond is dried up, the basketball courts gone, and the rec building demolished.”

“Sixty percent of the houses are busted down, boarded up, or have windows broken,” Ron said. “There may be 20 houses where people are trying to keep their houses up.”

However, the couple did enjoy part of their upstate visit. By chance, the Dooleys ate at Ron’s Pig Pen in Spartanburg.

Lyman:

It was a small private lake when we were there,“ says Mrs. Dooley.

The mobile home the couple lived in is still there.

Taking I-85, the pair visited Lawrenceville, Va., where they made their home for six months.

Here their former home looked the same.

Fortunately.

Richmond, Va.:

Richmond, Virginia was another city on the to-visit list. Cabin Creek apartments was one of the two apartment complexes where the Dooleys once resided.

Again, “Everything looked the same.”

While in Richmond, Ron and Joan visited St. Mary’s Hospital where their son Bryan was born.

A day trip to Laplato, Md. brought back memories for the couple as this was their home after they had “just gotten married.”

“It was scary,” admitted Ron. “We knew nothing about the area. We had a third floor walk-up apartment. We did it!”

“The building must have been 80 years old then, but it still looked the same,” says the former Jim Walter-Home Builder.

“Laplato is now a mega-shopping center,” says Ron. “We couldn’t even find the church where we were once members. It was replaced by a shopping center.”

Mineral, Va.:

Perhaps the highlight of Joan’s adventure was a visit to Mineral, Va.

“We lived in the house of my dreams,” she said. “It was a huge colonial house in the middle of 50 acres.”

After talking to the proprietor who presently lives there, the pair learned that they were the last family to use the pool, the same pool the local fire department would fill with water.

“We had to give up my beautiful house and moved to Hagerstown, Maryland,” she said. “There was a beautiful swan park there, one of my son’s favorite places to play.”

Back to Virginia:

Ron had the idea he could start his own business building modular homes. He had plans to build his own subdivision, but when interest rates peaked at 22 percent, the idea fell through the floor.

South Carolina:

Orangeburg, South Carolina, was the next destination.

One home on Riley Street.

Another on Chestnut.

Final call — Pine Hill:

Pine Hill, the place where Ron and Joan Dooley reared their two sons, Bryan and Chris.

The place where the Dooleys have placed roots to live and worship.

Pine Hill, where the Dooleys have lived longer than the sums of all the aforementioned together.

The motor home is parked for now.

Today the couple has time to reminiscence about yesterday.

Can you go back home?

Take a trip.

You decide.

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