My knees almost buckled with wave after wave of the most glorious gospel rendition of “Amazing Grace” I’d ever heard. I looked at Maggie and there were tears streaming down her face. I looked at Layla and she was just soaking it all in. A slight smile on her face, she looked luminous. Mama was leading the song and just as it was finishing she handed Layla to Maggie and me, and for a brief moment the three of us were there together holding each other on the stage. When the song ended, Mama wrapped her arms around us and the party-goers sounded a thunderous applause.

All we could do was just soak it in.

Then Mama said to the guests, “It’s suppertime, y’all! Let’s eat!”

And just like that the crowd dispersed and made their way to the back of the hall.

Mama stayed with us and, as much as I wanted to say something to her, I decided that tonight was not the time nor the place. As we were leaving the stage she leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Don’t you worry, Mr. Jim. God is gonna take good care of you and your family. You’ll see, there’s nothin’ that God can’t do.”

I tried to feel comforted by that, but too much was happening for me to even grasp what she was saying, and right about then all I really wanted was to get off the stage and find a cold beer.