As I watched the Jocassee story this weekend on “News To Me,” many emotions surfaced once again. Some were happy memories of a carefree childhood; others were sad, realizing again that the valley is lost forever under what I used to refer to as a death shroud. It’s natural to want your family and friends around you to share your memories. That’s part of life: laughing and crying, living and dying. During the show, my husband Dave got up out of his chair and knelt down beside me as we watched together. He held my hand as I cried (and just between you and me, he was crying a little, too). My husband is a great source of strength for me, but he knows that as much as I love him, I have three other wonderful men in my life. I lovingly refer to these unassuming men as “my heroes.” They are the divers who brought Jocassee back to me: Bill Routh, Charles Johnson, and Jackie Smith.

Bill Routh is the one with the vision – the one who contacted me about beginning our search for Attakulla Lodge which I thought was gone forever. If not for Bill, this new chapter in my story would never have taken place. Bill is also my dive instructor who had the patience of a saint during my dive lessons. Diving, shall we say, did not come naturally or easily for me.

   Diver Charles Johnson

Another is Charles Johnson. I met Charles on August 4, 2004, a beautiful Saturday morning at Jocassee. He and his dive partner Jackie would be the first two divers to brave the deep, dark, cold waters of Lake Jocassee in hopes of locating my family homestead. Charles and I just “clicked” the first minute we met. He had a keen sense of the importance of this to me, and he was grateful to be a part. Charles is the diver who, when bottom time was running out, was intently searching for some token of the Lodge to bring me. On his way back to the line to begin his ascent, he saw a long, architectural item sticking out of an upstairs window. He pulled it out and managed to loop it on his arm and began his 1.5-hour trip back to the surface. What Charles had found was the sidelight that was part of the Lodge’s front door. It is now proudly displayed in my house and is my Jocassee treasure.

The third “other” man in my life is Jackie Smith. Jackie was known around the world for being a “gorilla diver” – the term given to divers who routinely do hard-core diving, well beyond the recreational and even technical limits of diving.

   Diver Jackie Smith

Jackie had previously dived to a depth of approximately 450 feet. To say that Jackie was quiet and unassuming is an understatement. He was not a man to draw attention to himself but was more comfortable in letting others have the limelight. It was a sad day in early 2006 that I received a phone call from Charles saying that Jackie was dead. Team Attakulla had lost one of its finest men. He was so proud to have been a part of finding the Lodge, and he looked forward to many years of exploration – years that he would not have. I invite you to visit the memorial to Jackie that is on my website at JocasseeRemembered.com. Just click on the red and white dive flag on the home page. I believe you will then understand what a treasured friend he was to many.

Each time they dive on the Lodge, Jocassee emotions flood my mind, stirred as easily as the silt on the bottom of the lake. A mere flick, and poof! they swirl around like a powdery cloud, taking its time to settle once again. I thought that locating Attakulla Lodge and placing my book on the front porch would signify the end of this chapter in my life. I’m just now beginning to see that it will never end, and I don’t want it to. There is so much more to explore – so many questions yet to be answered. Attakulla Lodge is inviting us in . . . this adventure is really just beginning.

Debbie Fletcher