My Mom, Edith Lee (Grandma), introduced me to Charles last year, but he felt like an old friend, probably because he was from the all-"black" town of Tatums, Okla., which I've studied; and South Berkeley, which we both love, although his had an almost romantic fervor. Indeed, he tended to its needs with an attention, tenderness and commitment befitting a great love, and it loved him back.