When we relocated to California from Chicago, I missed the church I went to as a small boy: Park Manor. As I grew, the desire to find a spritual home grew. But I didn't want to just go to a black church. I came to believe that my experience in church should be interracial.
Mom worked at United Airlines with a very lovely woman named Charlotte Quan, who told her "Send Zennie to Glide!" And so she did and I found my home. But in seeing Charlotte on Sunday's I also found a person who had in a way become a mother to almost everyone at Gilde.
She was the new member coordinator and as such was the first person everyone would see when they joined Glide. She had a great smile and hug for everyone, and always stayed in touch with my Mom, and always asked me about her -- heck she'd ask me when I was going to get married!
The last time I saw her was last year when she had breakfast with Mom and I at the Hilton Hotel next to Gilde. Wow. It's hard to believe she's gone. I just got the call from my Mom's friend Dee. She had a heart attack.
There's a wake today and the funeral at Gilde at 11 AM Saturday.
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