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| A Vision of Perfection Captured My Heart |
| by Ellen Braunstein |
A Vision of Perfection Captured My Heart
By Floyd and Gwen as told to Ellen
Braunstein, wedding keepsake writer of
www.courtship-stories.com
I take pride in my peripheral vision – the
ability to notice a good looking woman
without getting caught. So thank goodness I
didn’t turn my head when I saw Gwen for the
first time. My Hummer might have crashed
into a school wall and bent the license
plate.
I was dropping off my niece at Manning Oaks
Elementary School on November 8, 2005. I
passed by this beautiful woman in the
parking lot, and – whoaaaaahhh, wait a
minute. . . I slowed, adjusted my rear view
mirror and caught a reflection of a black
skirt hugging a perfect physique. When it
comes to women, in most cases, I’m shy.
But, I thought, I’m going to give this a
shot because this girl is stunning.
****
I was a special education teacher and I was
outside trying to flag down a parent in the
school parking lot. I couldn’t catch
up with the parent so I decided to retrieve
something from my car. I hurried along and
this man was driving beside me.
"Excuse me,” I asked. Can I take you to
lunch one day?”
Oh, my gosh, I thought. This is going to be
one of those rebound daddies – recently
divorced, trying to hit on me.
I was polite. "Well, that would be
difficult to have lunch with you because I
teach.”
“Well, can I talk to you? I’d like to take
you to dinner.”
I was flattered. He seemed very nervous,
very pleasant, almost boyish.
Gwen flashed a smile at me and I was
smitten by her gleaming white teeth.
“Please, please,” I asked. “Can I get your
number and call you?” By now, I was beside
himself. I was trying to maintain my
composure, but I was hyperventilating.
Please don’t let her say no. She wrote her number and e-mail address on a piece of paper. I rushed to my office – three miles in three minutes – and I called her.
***
It usually takes one phone call for me to
decide if a man can be taken seriously.
Being a minister, I thought, he’s going to
call and hear my recorded voice and not
want to mess with that. “You’ve reached the
private voice mail of Rev. Gwendolyn
Charles.”
Some men are just intimidated. It’s a good
screener. So I don’t get my hopes up.
All I cared about was that Gwen gave me a
correct number. I immediately e-mailed her:
“I’m really excited to hear more about
your ministry. And, I think I found my
wife.”
You'd be surprised at the lines you hear
when you are a minister. I had heard the
“revelations” before from would-be suitors.
‘God told us to be together…’ I had
apprehension. But I was excited. This
seemed to be different.
When I met Gwen, I knew I had met my future
spouse so I was happy to speed up the
sequence of events necessary to court a
woman. I could combine our first date with
an introduction to her parents.
Benjamin and Emma had surprised Gwen with a
visit that weekend to hear their daughter
preach. I thought it was simply a
blessing for me that I could take her out
and her mom and dad would be there. I
wanted to make a decent impression.
He came and did the little high school
thing. It was so sweet. He met my parents
the first date out. Normally, my dad
wouldn’t be too communicative, but my
parents just interacted like he’d been
there forever.
During our dinner date, Floyd was the
perfect gentlemen. He opens my door. He’s
romantic. He holds hands.
***
I drove Gwen to Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen
and parked the car. I’m coming to get you,
I said. At five feet, she was too short
to step out of the Hummer unassisted. So I
just scooped her up off the seat.
I laughed and told Floyd he really needed
to put me down. "But you’re so petite," he
said. "I thought that would be a lot of
fun."
At the restaurant, Gwen and I discovered we
shared a love for good food. And both of us
took water with a twist of lime. Most
people order lemon. I told her, "‘This
can’t be a coincidence.”
When Floyd and I both ordered water with
lime, we almost fell out of our chairs,
Neither of us were drinkers. No
drinking,cursing, smoking or clubbing. We
filled the evening with stimulating
conversation. We talked about everything
from football to scripture to disciplining
children.
I felt sky high when I hugged Gwen goodbye
that night. When I kissed her, I went from
6 foot 2 to 7 foot 5.
Five minutes after Floyd left, I phoned
Rev. Angela Williams, my godmother, to tell
her about Floyd. “That’s wonderful," she
said. "Use your discernment. Take your
time."
Then Floyd beeped in. “I want you to be my
girlfriend.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Just us. I don’t want to date anybody
else.”
I thought, ‘Wow’, that’s kind of quick.
Click. Back to Angela. “He just asked me to
be his girlfriend.”
“It doesn’t take long when you know what
you want,” Angela said.
***
Floyd and I worked in Alpharetta so we saw
each other every day. It would be weeks
before I felt we were serious enough to
take him to one of my church services.
She gave me a CD of her preaching. I
thought it was awesome.I was very
supportive. I didn’t feel threatened by her
being in the ministry. Gwen reminded me of
my mother, Parthenia. She is a strong
person in the church and a good listener.
I am a lot older than her and she has a
lot of wisdom and maturity. Her soothing
spirit is a comfort for me. I wanted
someone who would keep me grounded in my
faith.
Gwen was the woman I had been missing all
my life. She completed me. I knew if I was
going to have that completeness
eternally, she had to be my wife one day.
***
Two weeks after Floyd and I started dating,
I met his children, Zhané and Jeremiah. It
felt comfortable with them, They are
very loving children. And he’s a wonderful
dad, very funny with the kids. They just
love their dad.
My children liked Gwen immediately. In the
weeks to come she would help them with
their homework. She was demanding their
respect. She would say, "You need to do
this in order to get that." My kids
immediately responded with respect: ‘Yes
ma’am,’ they would say. She acted like she
cared. She took ownership of the family as
if it were her own.”
I knew that Floyd was the one when I missed
him while spending a weekend with her
family in Woodford. He had asked if I saw
us being together forever. I could because
we laugh together, we pray together, and he
accepts the worst part of me on a bad
day.
***
One evening, Floyd said to me, "Let's get
married in February. We’ll just do it.”
“It’s December," I said. "I met you in
November. Are you crazy?”
My heart said yes, but you only get married
once. I want a wedding, Floyd. I would
really like to go home. It would be a nice
way to end that chapter of being single and
moving forward.”
I looked at her. "If that’s what you want,
I want to do what makes you happy.” I
called Gwen’s father during a Sunday
football game. “Hey, Mr. Charles," I said.
"I want to marry your daughter. Will that
be all right?”
“That’ll be fine, if it’s all right with
her.”
***
Floyd and I started planning for a July 22
wedding. We picked the reception site, the
menu, a coordinator, and the rest. The
one thing missing was a ring – a sign of
true commitment. Aunt Ernestine questioned
it. My father asked if Floyd was serious.
The deposits for the wedding were coming
along. Save the date cards were ready to be
mailed.
Gwen and her family didn't know this, but I
had been making payments on a ring since
December.
On Tuesday, April 18, she had
plans to attend a 7 p.m. rehearsal for a
church drama. That afternoon, I insisted we
go out to eat at Ray’s Killer Creek
steakhouse at 5 p.m. She told me she didn’t
have time.
***
Floyd’s persistence made me feel like he
wanted to apologize for our tiff the other
day. I finally gave in when he promised
we would be done in an hour, tops.
At Ray’s, we sat at a circular booth
overlooking a wooded creek. We ordered and
our waiter brought an appetizer with a
small gold box tied with a black ribbon.
The ring must be in it, I thought. Floyd
had hinted he was proposing any day now. I
opened the box and saw two Godiva
chocolate hearts inside.
He saw my long stare of dissappointment.
“Oh. . . how sweet,” I said.
Just as we were finishing dinner, the
waiter brought a Hallmark card. Floyd had
written an apology for a stupid comment he
had made. “You’re coming around,” I said. I
was pleased that he was sorry. “You’re
doing better.”
Then we agreed to split a chocolate fudge
brownie. This time, the manager brought the
dessert and a half dozen pink roses.
They were so vibrant and rich. OK, I’m
fine, I thought. I’m not mad at you
anymore.
The manager came back and told Gwen he had
one more present. My fingers were tapping
nervously on the table. The manager
presented a cherry oak box. Inside was her
two and a half carat sparkling, flawless
diamond ring.
“Now will you marry me?” I said.
I looked at him and swatted him with my
napkin. “Oh, my goodness.”
I felt relieved that Gwen liked the ring.
My proposal was well-executed and the
wedding was still on.
After Floyd asked me to marry him, I felt
like I was walking on cloud nine. The ring
was just simply gorgeous. It was one of
those things that you don’t think is
important, but it really is.
I thought about how much I loved him. He’s
such a giver. He gives 110 percent in
everything – emotionally, spiritually,
physically; just his presence.
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