**County Commissioner Brian Welch explains why Tallahassee is the perfect match for him and his family**
They say home is where your life happens.
My family moved to Tallahassee the day after I graduated high school in Jackson, MS in 1997. My grandmother had lived here for many years, so we were familiar with the area and knew it offered a fresh start for all of us.
I immediately got a job at the Killearn Country Club working on the golf course, while taking evening classes at TCC and paying out-of-state tuition.
One year later, in July of 1998, I met Kim Brown working at the country club. We would get married on the #1 tee box of the old North Course at Killearn in 2003. Kim grew up in Killearn Estates and attended Lincoln High School, so she was a local girl.
Kim and I would both go on to Florida State and start our careers a few years after that. I found my way to the classroom as a social studies teacher at Lawton Chiles High School and she at the FSU Autism Institute, where we both still work today.
A Love Note to Tallahassee
My Tallahassee story is really a love note to Kim Welch and the community. It’s about family, friends, neighbors and service. You see, Tallahassee and Kim, were my perfect match.
I knew early in my adult life that I wanted to have a family. I wanted a loving wife, beautiful children, a stable home and a peaceful, safe, and enjoyable community to live in. A place where my children could prosper with high-quality schools and extracurricular opportunities. I wanted my children to experience a tremendous quality of life while embracing a true sense of place. No matter where they eventually moved or lived, I wanted them to know that Tallahassee would always be their home, and that our house, would always be their shelter.
Over the past 23 years, Tallahassee has offered us what we set out to create in 1998. We have 3 awesome kids, Chloe is a freshman at Chiles, Cameron is a 7th grader at Montford Middle. Carter is a 3rd grader at Roberts Elementary.
We have a beautiful home in the Centerville Conservation Community with a wonderful group of friends and neighbors who foster a special sense of community.
Giving Back To The Tallahassee Community
In 2018, I decided to follow through with the 3rd leg of my commitment to Tallahassee by offering myself for community service and running for the Leon County Commission. I was privileged to win that election. Now I get to work every day to protect the Tallahassee that I have grown to love, and that has offered so much to my family and to my life. I want to make sure that everyone has the chances that Tallahassee offered me.
You see, Tallahassee has hot summers, but beautiful shade trees and cool springs. We have cool winters, but they are perfect for sitting by a bonfire. We have a Fall full of vitality and excitement for football, fraternity and family gatherings. We have a spring more beautiful than almost any you will find, where the azaleas bloom with a vigor that inspires your spirit.
Tallahassee offers you a foundation to build your life, a place to live your life, and a community to help enrich your life. No matter what stage you are in, Tallahassee is a perfect match.
Sometimes, I feel like I didn’t “choose Tallahassee” as much as it “chose me”, but I am certainly blessed that it is my home. It is where my life happens.
A wonderful life. A happy life. A peaceful life. An abundant life.
The question then becomes; Will you let Tallahassee choose you? It may be a perfect match.
Brian Welch
County Commissioner, District 4