a story that i will never forget...

i remember walking around San Luis Obispo about once a week with a pair of SONY WALKMAN headphones,with a cap to make sure it fit,listening to talk radio,some great county music,and i would buy jazz music from BOO BOO Records,and books from Barnes and Noble... i would buy BBQ chicken sandwiches from MO's(the best BBQ joint in SLO),and simply walk the city,then take the RTA city bus home to Cayucos... i lived down below from my dearly departed mother,exactly 1/4 mile from the waves(by GPS)... my mother was a real character,with very true character... she lived in so many places over her oh so short life... she was self-educated,but she was in no way a county hick... she worked at two sheriff's/police departments,in her life,at the radio station at USC,a television station,in Denver,a well-known shopping store chain,in New Mexico,at two colleges,including Stanford University,and so many odd jobs that i can not count... she was a city council member in Morro Bay,and if you tried to bully,and buffalo her,she would shut you down quickly,because,unlike most of the city council,she read every bill,or ordinance that came before the city council,while she was on the city council... to get elected the first time,she walked to every house,every one,folks... her home library was spectacular,and i have her collection on Winston Churchill... i used to talk to her almost every night... three stories,from that time,that i will mention:we had not talked in a few days,because we both were very busy,so i hear a knock on my apartment/duplex door,i open the door,and she is standing there rather sad,and she said to me,"i need my harassment"(our running joke),and we hugged and talked for a few minutes,that night... now for a funny story:she had to go to Lompoc for a medical appointment,and so we both went down... we stopped at real dive of a restaurant near Vandenberg AFB,and it was so bad that we kidded each other about going back there for lunch every so often from then on... UGH!!!!  for now the final story that i will mention:when we talked most nights,she would ask me what was on television,i would say,"hock,hock,and more hock",and she would laugh,or i would say to her,"i was not coming back up" for the night,and then sneak up and tell her,"I LIED!!!!",and she would give me that look,and laugh... when we went to bed,i would come up to the sliding glass door,and we would give each other the sign for "i love you",and slowly touch the glass together... she even did it the night before she died,and i will always remember that for the rest of my life... what a real character,and a true lady...