“A lesson life has taught me is that, whether you think you are or not, you’re not in control of everything. It’s still a work in progress for me, I guess. I’m a problem solver, and I’ve always believed that you get what you make out of life – and I still do believe that a lot of the time – but there are certain things that are out of your control. It took me 40 years to come to that conclusion – that I could not control everything. With raising three kids, you have a lot of things happen that you really can’t change. It’s better to learn to come to grips with that sooner than later.” – Robert Brownell of Prattville.

Born and raised in Prattville, Brownell is a University of Alabama alumnus and father of three. While he left the state of Alabama to travel for nearly a decade, he ultimately decided his hometown was where he wanted to settle down and raise his family.

Robert Brownell said accepting what you can’t control is an important life lesson. (Amber Sutton / People of Alabama)

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama NewsCenter partnership.