Brandontimes: I live here

I live here

In Brandon, there's always something to do, and there are always old friends to see.

KAREN S. RODRIGUEZ
Published November 11, 2005

BRANDON - There's a poem in my kitchen that reads:

I like living in our little town

where the trees meet across

each street. Good people live in our

little town, the kind of folks you like

to meet. For life is interwoven

with friends we've come to know

and we hear their joys and sorrows

as we daily come and go.

I love living in Brandon,

I care no more to roam, for every house

here in our little town is more than a house,

it's a Home.
Although I was born in North Carolina, I have always felt this was home.

When I was living in Venezuela, my husband and I knew we would be returning to the Brandon area when his assignment ended. We adopted a baby girl, and it was important that she be able to grow up close to her brother, Donnie, and both sets of grandparents, who incidentally all live within three blocks of us. We jokingly call it the Lentz-Rodriguez communal area.

Seems like there is always something going on, whether it's volunteering at Nicole's school, planning the Greater Brandon Old Timer Association's annual picnic, working as treasurer for the Brandon High School Alumni Association, or serving as Queen Mom of the Babes in the Brandonland Red Hat Society Chapter.

Although traffic can be a nightmare, all we have to do is remember the gridlock we experienced in Caracas, and we can deal with it.

Sure, I miss the old Brandon I grew up in. But it's the genuine friends from school (Brandon High School '72) that make it worthwhile.

You might not see them for a while, but you know they are there if you need them. It's the longtime family friends who may not remember your name but know you are Carl and Mickey's daughter. It's the moms from the Mom's Clubs of Brandon and Valrico.

Ask me why I live here and I'm happy to tell you: Because it's home.