Her mother, Marilea McCann, a former nurse at various hospitals throughout the area, had always admired former President Bill Clinton.

"I think he did such a good job for our country," says McCann. "When he was president, we had the respect of so many other countries. I just think he's a remarkable person."

When Clinton recently released his autobiography, My Life, McCann rushed right out to get a copy. Of course, she got very excited when she heard Clinton would be making a personal appearance right here in the Bay Area, at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Stevens Creek Boulevard, to sign copies of his book.

Levine-Peters wanted to make sure her mother would get a spot in line to meet the man her mother admires so much.

"I went there two days before to find out what we needed to do and to explain my mother's situation," she remembers, referring to her mother's disability that leaves her confined to a wheelchair. Many said they would most likely be required to stand in line for well over 24 hours ahead of time in order to guarantee a spot in the booksigning. "I would have camped out, but there's no way my mother would be able to."

Levine-Peters said the manager of the store explicitly told her to arrive at least an hour before the store opened on the morning of the event. At 9 a.m., they would be handing out wristbands, and disabled persons would get special consideration. The manager said they would only be handing out about 1,000 wristbands, an order from the Secret Service. Then, once they had their wristbands, they could go home and come back an hour or two before the event.

She and her mother decided to play it safe and showed up at 6:30 a.m., even though the store didn't open until 9 a.m. To their dismay, at 6:30 a.m., the manager said all 1,000 wristbands had already been handed out. Levine-Peters was angry.

"I wanted to tell him it just wasn't fair, but that's not my style," she said. Disappointed, she took her mother back home. When she got there, she said, she decided she had to do something—she couldn't just give up.

"That's when I thought of the idea of a flier," she said. "There are a lot of Good Samaritans out there. Plus, sitting in line for so many hours, they were sure to be a captive audience and read it."

At 9 a.m., Levine-Peters went back to the store to hand out a flier she had made on her computer. It pleaded for someone in line to either sell or give her mother a wristband, since she was disabled and unable to wait in line for so long and since the manager had given them misinformation.

At 1:30 p.m., their prayers were answered. A man in line decided to give up his wristband to McCann and called them to come down and meet him at the store.

At 5:30 p.m. a very excited McCann and her daughter returned to the store with the wristband.

"I remember the store was closed to the public by that time, and the Secret Service would only let a certain number of people in at a time. They escorted you," said McCann. Levine-Peters remembers that there were people of all ages present waiting to meet the former president. The Secret Service would not allow cameras, phones or bags inside the room, and everyone was required to pass through a metal detector.

McCann recalls a raised podium where Clinton stood, greeting people and signing copies of his book. When she got to the front of the line with her daughter, she could see Clinton up at his podium, but sitting in her wheelchair, she could not reach him to shake his hand. When Clinton noticed, he decided to come around to greet McCann.

"I was so impressed when he came around and shook her hand," said Levine-Peters. "He really looked her in the eyes, like she was a real person."

"I'll never forget, when he saw me, he said, 'I'll have to come around so I can shake your hand.' I thanked him for his service to our country," said McCann. She remembers how charismatic he was. "You feel like you're the only one he's talking to. He takes the time to focus on each person."

Afterward, said Levine-Peters, she and her mother came home and had a champagne celebration.

"It was truly the ultimate experience," said McCann, looking back on the happy day. "It's not every day you get to meet someone you admire so much."

"Didn't you say he was even more handsome in person than in his pictures?" Levine-Peters asked her mother.

McCann smiled.

"Yes, I did."