They reached the church a little after 7:00 am and quickly found a seat before many of the members who were talking, occupied them. While they sat waiting for the service to begin, sister Hemp took it upon herself to approach Gwen and introduce herself to Allen.
"Hi Sister Matthews," Sister Hemp said as she reached down to hug
and kiss her on the cheek.
"Good morning Sister Hemp," Gwen replied holding her breath, "how
are you today?"
"I'm doing fine." She said as she looked at Allen closely as if she was
looking to see if she recognized him. "Hi honey," she said to Allen, "I
can't say that I have seen you here before, but if Sister Matthews brought
you here, you must be a good man. I'm Sister Hemp, Georgia Hemp,
yeah that's me," she bellowed, "good ole Sister Hemp. Now what did you
say your name was?" She pried.
"Well, I didn't," Allen spoke hesitantly, "but my name is Allen."
"Well," she continued, "does Allen have a last name?"
Allen looked at Gwen as if to say who in the hell is this and what
words do I use to make her go away. Gwen looked back as if to say,
answer her 'cause I'm not going to breathe until she leaves.
"Anthony, Allen Anthony is my name Ms. Hemp."
"Oh no," she said as she placed her hand on her hip and waved the
other in front of Allen, "we are family now, you can call me Georgia or
Sister Hemp."
"Well Sister Hemp, I will make sure that I don't forget that."
As Allen finished with his interrogation, the church organ began to
play and members began to search for available seats. Pastor Brothers
began to talk to the members urging them to do a better job of finding
seats upon entering the sanctuary and not waiting for the organ to play
before getting their minds right to worship. When the congregation had
settled, Pastor Brothers began to pray and as he prayed many of the
older members of the church began to hum I Don't Believe He Brought Me
This Far.
Allen listened to the prayer and the song and thought of the
struggle that his mother had endured as she fought the cancer that
shared her body and the victory over death that GOD gave to her and he
thanked HIM for it. He thought about the losses that Gwen had in her
life and asked GOD to let him be the vessel in which she saw and
received true love from. He asked GOD for HIS guidance and thanked
HIM for the union that he and Gwen now had. He asked GOD to look
upon Charles and allow him to accept what GOD has allowed. He asked
that HE allow Charles to receive a love that will love him with the same
love that he gives.