By RENE DAY / Community Columnist

You know, in the general scheme of things, most people don’t give prefixes much thought. They are hardworking, responsible and oft-used parts of speech. But, aside from grammar teachers, they don’t get much respect on a day-to-day basis. The simple addition of a few letters, however, can provide profound and instantaneous transformation.

My name is Rene’ – and it contains one of my favorite prefixes – re. Did you know the French word for born is ne’? So, if you add the prefix re (meaning again and again) to ne’ – not only do you get my name, you also get the word meaning “reborn.”

Thus, as spring begins its “re-birth” or “renaissance,” Rene’ begins a new community column for the Shelby County Reporter. I am so pleased to greet you and tell you a little bit about “Day by Day!”

Someone once said, “You can never go home again.” I beg to differ, because after being away for many years, I did just that about 22 years ago. I’ve spent the intervening time rediscovering my home county and I want to share some of what I have found with each of you.

I live in Alabaster, but as a former teacher and administrator with Shelby County Schools – I feel as though my community is really the entire county.

I don’t need to tell you how fortunate we are to live here, in this place at this time, but I do want to introduce you to some of the people and places that provide a certain richness to our lives.

We have amazing neighbors reinvesting, reusing, restoring, retelling, recreating and restarting things – over again and again. Frankly, that is the reason we have been one of the fastest growing counties in Alabama for so many years. It is also the reason for our fantastic diversity.

After many years in education, I am in the process of returning to my career roots and doing some reinvention of my own. Anyone who knows me will certainly guess that there will be talk about reclaiming, renewing and redecorating.

And, schools, sites and businesses around the county provide chances for individual recreation and renaissance. These stories need to be shared and I hope to do just that – to provide a snapshot of “A Day in the Life” of us.

I hope that these snapshots will bring “new” names, stories, places and people to you in a way that will reflect my immense appreciation for where we live and, perhaps, will help you to revise and expand your definition of community.

Looking forward to sharing our journey, day by day.