“Great food!” someone else yelled.

“Thank you!” Ida yelled back for her mother. They had plenty of relatives who worked in the kitchen and at the cash register, but Ida had been the most vocal spokesperson for the business.

“So, without further ado, I give you Carol Henderson and her daughter Ida,” Thomas told the crowd.

Some of the supporters roared again before Ida took the microphone to introduce her mother.

She said, “It’s been thirty years of my life, eating my mother’s delicious food, and finally, after I begged her to open a restaurant for nearly ten years, she went ahead and did it, with the help of friends from the Urban League and the local banks, earlier this year.”

“YEAH!” the crowd roared again.

Ida continued, “And I must admit that it has not been easy, but it has been well worth it. But I’m gonna stop right there and let my mother say the rest, because I can get to talking, which my family already knows.”

“Unh-hunh,” one of the family members belted from the kitchen.

“I heard that,” Ida teased. “Anyway…” She turned to her mother and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, Momma. And I am so proud of you. I’m proud of all of us.”

The crowd watched, inspired by it. Even Ivan felt choked up.

Carol held the microphone and looked at all of the people who came out in support of her restaurant, and she paused to compose her words.

She said, “I wanna thank…first of all…God, for giving me the talents to cook. Then I want to thank my family…for always telling me how good it was.”

The crowd laughed and continued to listen. Jeff and Paul were all over it, taking pictures of everything.

Carol said, “I want to thank my friend Thomas and the Urban League for being so supportive…”

Thomas held up a raised power fist with his head down for the members of the Urban League to yell out their continued support.

“YEAH!”

Carol said, “And I want to thank all of you for coming out and enjoying my food this evening,” for more yells. Then she looked at Ivan. “But without this young man and his ideas to promote community businesses through his website and network parties, some of you would never know that my restaurant was even here.”

When Jeff and Paul heard that, they wished they had enough light to record it all on video camera instead of just taking pictures. But they were excited just the same.

Carol continued, “So, I want all of us to thank Mr. Ivan David and his I.D. Promotions company for bringing us all together tonight.”