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- I was a contractor, and I was asked to come rewire the house.
And somewhere, you asked, did I want tea.
I had five jobs going on at the same time.
I'm smoking two packs of cigarettes a day
and didn't have time for none of that,
but out of my mouth came, "Yes."
- And you drank tea with me, and you fixed my switch.
- Free of charge. - Free of charge.
[Both chuckle]
And I knew you were looking at me,
and I had never met anyone
who had such a gentleness and a firmness at the same time
and wouldn't let me look deep into his eyes.
- I wanted to finish the job
so that I could fire myself from the job.
Then I would engage in dealing with you.
- So we didn't see each other for a while.
- That's true. - And then...
- Then we went for ice cream.
- That was our first date.
- I'm thankful to God every day since.
And I remember in conversation you told me
Walnut Street was a place, historically,
where African-American entrepreneurs had resided.
And in this area,
there were elm trees up and down the block
that kissed in the middle of the street.
- Right.
So it was very dark on this block, right?
'Cause most of the homes were boarded.
- It was? - And Christmas Eve,
we were sitting in the kitchen, looking out.
- And you said, "What's going on
with the flickering of those lights?"
And it was crack pipes.
- We looked at each other and said, "This is"--
- It's not right. - It's not right.
- And you said...
- I want you to do that house, please.
I did say please, right? - Oh, absolutely.
Your eyes always say please.
That was the first renovation on this block.
- So the renovation of our own home
became secondary
to the renovation of our community.
And there is such a blessing
in the commitment that you and I have for each other.
And I get great joy when that commitment manifests itself,
block by block, household by household.
- Before, I was renovating homes,
but to take it deeper to renovate communities
is a purposeful life.
- I love you. - Love you, too, baby.
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