FAMILIAR FACES: Sebrenia Brown

Sebrenia Moss Brown rode the bus to Tildenville Elementary School every day but never took the bus back to her home in Tildenville off Avalon Road. She and her older brother and younger sister — Anthony Watkins and Movita Lamb — were picked up by their uncle and taken home to change clothes before he drove them to the orange groves.

“He picked all day, he dropped them on the ground, and we picked up the fruit and put in the bins till it got dark,” Brown said.

She continued this routine until she was 16 and started working in Disney’s custodial department, starting at Magic Kingdom before transferring to Epcot.

That daily grove work shaped her and made her who she is today — a strong woman with a sturdy work ethic. The theme park career wasn’t meant to last either, but her ultimate job was right around the corner. She was working part-time in the morning Extended Day program at Tildenville Elementary when an Orange County employee told her about a recreational leader position that was available with the Winter Garden Parks & Recreation Department.

“Larry Caskey hired me right away,” Brown said of her boss, the recreation director.

She was responsible for children’s activities at the rec center, then located at the city’s old fire station (now SoBo Art Gallery) and at the city parks.

That was 26 years ago. The 60-year-old now is recreational specialist, and part of her duties for 21 years — before the pandemic shut down all programs and activities — was to feed students in the after-school program at the Maxey Community Center. She also is responsible for being present at most city-hosted events, and you’ll find her in the kids zones at festivals, making sure everything is running smoothly — and wearing a bright recreation shirt and even brighter smile for everyone she meets.

SHAPED BY HER PAST

Brown is a proud and grateful Tildenville resident who delights in the chance to get together with friends and to celebrate the birthdays of her loved ones — and especially her own.

Brown is unapologetically enthusiastic and energetic with a broad smile and an even bigger heart for helping others in need.

“When you’ve grown up to not have anything and see other kids still have something — we were in poverty,” she said. “There were things we didn’t have then that I have now. But you know how people get caught up in stuff? Not me. If I don’t have it, I don’t have it.

“I don’t need a mansion to identify me,” she said. “I can still live in a little house and still identify as me.”

What she does have is plenty of shoes and wigs. At last count, she had amassed about 30 wigs — different colors, lengths and styles — and more than 100 pairs of shoes — mostly heels — not including sneakers, sandals and flip flops.

She also has a closet full of brightly colored fancy dresses and pantsuits that look expensive but don’t break Brown’s bank.

“I get my clothes from a grab bag,” she said. “People call and say, ‘Sebrenia, do you want this?’ I grab what I want, and I pass it on. That’s my mall. … If I find something too big, Mrs. (Velma) Jefferson can make it fit. And I’m always cutting things off because I’m short.”

In her free time, Brown enjoys checking in on residents in need — especially the elderly. Maybe they are in need of some food or need someone to run some errands for them.

“I just want to make sure everybody’s all right,” she said.

Brown also enjoys playing games, especially with the children participating in the recreation program. She has her own children, a 45-year-old son and 38-year-old daughter, plus nine grandchildren (the oldest is 24) and two great-grandchildren (the youngest turned 1 last week).

She still lives in Tildenville, with her sister, near where they grew up and just two houses down from her mother, Geraldine Watkins, who raised her children on her own.

“She was a good mama; still is,” Brown said.

A BATTLE TO SURVIVE

In 2006, Brown started having horrible stomach pains. When they became severe, a coworker made her go to the hospital, where she was given ibuprofen and sent home. When the pain continued, she demanded a biopsy. She was not prepared for what doctors found: Stage 4 stomach cancer. She told no one for eight months, even when she was getting chemotherapy treatments. She said her children were driving her to the hospital for the treatments but thought she was visiting the sick.

“I wasn’t worried about dying; I was just worried about people getting upset, so I didn’t tell nobody,” Brown said. “I would go to chemo and go down to the Kids Café and cook food for the kids and then go home.”

Three years — and a bone marrow transplant and multiple blood transfusions — later, Brown was deemed cancer-free. Every three to six months she gets another biopsy to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned. So far, so good, she said.

Brown is determined to make the most of her life.

“I thought about when I was in my last stage of cancer and I learned to cherish every moment — that you wake up as if it was your last day,” she said. “I didn’t know if was going to be here.”

She loves life and wants to see and do everything there is. She enjoys spending time at Pilars Martini, going to the movies and traveling. After the pandemic, she and her daughter took an excursion to Africa and toured Morocco — some of it on the back of a camel.

She wants to visit Hawaii.

She likes the crunchiness of Popeye’s chicken; Maryland Fried Chicken was her favorite until it closed last year.

She listens to gospel music because it keeps her attitude positive.

When asked what makes her happy, her response was simple: Seeing people happy and smiling.