Renee

Easily some of the best days of my life were spent right around this time of year at a week-long camp called Joy Explosion. It was a church youth group gathering held on the campus of Bridgewater College. Probably 500 or so attended. I got to go during my middle school years.

Joy Explosion was a spiritual experience, but just as much a social one for my friends and me. We got to sleep in Bridgewater's dorms, meet new friends from different places, select sessions to attend and do whatever we wanted during the coveted three-hour free time block each afternoon. It was essentially a teaser for college. I loved every second of it.

While we all made cool friends from around the state, our group from Mt. Hermon Baptist Church formed a special bond with a group from Mechanicsville, VA. Well, to be more accurate, the boys from Mt. Hermon tried to spend as much time as possible with their girls.

Star among them was Renee Saunders. I remember Renee being one of the most fun girls I had ever met. A beautiful smile, quick laugh and an upbeat attitude towards all of the excitement swirling around us at camp.

I only got to see Renee for two, maybe three, week-long periods of my life, but I remember her better than many people I graduated with. I've occasionally thought of her every year since then, and I know that if things were different and we had grown up in the same area, Renee would have been a close friend the whole way through.

It broke my heart this morning to learn she passed away suddenly this week. She was 30.

Renee and I lost touch in our high school years, but from seeing her afar on Facebook and reading her obituary now, clearly she lived the remainder of her life having the same effect on everyone else as she did on me. She graduated from college and became an elementary school teacher, taking special interest in children coming from poverty.

She fell in love and was married. Three years ago she became a mother. I can only imagine what those two and the rest of her family and close friends are going through now.

To me, Renee will always be that awesome girl from Richmond at Joy Explosion. The one you want to hang out on the lawn with. To go to the snack bar with. The one you hope sits at your table at lunch. My friends Stuart, Amanda, Will and others still remember all these times with great fondness.

Back then, when you checked in on that first exciting day, you got your room key and a long thread key chain so you could keep it around your neck. We all wore ours with pride. Afterwards, I kept mine and attached it to my personal keys where it stayed in my pocket, until it finally wore down into small pieces just a few years ago.

I keep the few inches I have left of it now in one of my jackets. Whenever I wear that jacket and put my hand in the left pocket, I feel that frayed string and think about Joy Explosion. I think about all of us there. Especially Renee.

Joy Explosion, probably 1998. Middle row, second person, blue shirt, next to the guy in sunglasses: Renee.