Bess, 43, is deaf and blind.

But that hasn't stopped the former Fairfield resident from living life to its fullest.

He works two jobs, including doing janitorial work at the Sacramento Hostel where the Scottish visitor watched intently as Bess answered questions in sign language.

Bess just returned from a camp that caters to the deaf and blind, where he spent much of his time hiking.

He uses power tools, snow skis, and even treks to his neighborhood bar for a brew with some friends.

And he is the main subject of "Visions," a memoir by his mother Janie P. Bess, who lives in Fairfield.

"David loves everybody. He doesn't hear the mean things people say. He doesn't see the mean things people do to each other. We see the ugly and hear the ugly. It messes us up," Janie Bess said.

David Bess, on the other hand, doesn't feel like he has any restrictions. "No one told him he had limitations," Janie Bess said. "We just told him he was deaf and blind."

David Bess smiles from ear to ear. That's just David. He knows he's the topic of his mother's book and is proud of her for writing it.

And he loves to talk to people. With the help of his supervisor, Walter Price, who is deaf, David Bess made time to answer a few questions before his mother's arrival at the hostel.

He said in sign language his favorite job is picking up and dumping the trash at the hostel, that he loves having his own apartment, with fiancee Shirley Schoenwald in Carmichael. Schoenwald is also deaf and legally blind.

Price has known Bess for about two years. He appreciates the fact Bess is smart and a hard worker.

Bess continues signing while Price talks. "He remembers I took him to Carmichael two years ago. I don't remember," Price said, while signing back to Bess. Bess shared more details and Price remembered.

When his mother arrived, Bess sensed her presence without so much as a touch. He immediately wanted to know where her friend Lorraine Bussey was. "She had an appointment," Bess signed to her son.

Letting her oldest of three children move out was a major step for Janie Bess.

David Bess spent the weekend with a friend who lived independently and decided he was ready for his own place. He and his friend planned on living next to each other in an apartment complex where the manager knew sign language.

Then, love intervened. Bess and her son were at Marine World for a special event when a woman approached them, saying she was a friend from a long time ago.

Then, she wanted to know if David Bess would marry her. "I knew we had prayed for a wife, but this was a little too fast," Janie Bess said.

That woman was Schoenwald, who knew David Bess from the California School for the Blind in Berkeley.

"Visions" is also a look into Janie Bess' life. She was an aspiring singer, who missed a chance to open for Ray Charles, when she fell ill with rubella. At the time she didn't know she was pregnant.

Born six weeks premature, David Bess Jr. had his first surgery when he was 2 months old; by 10 months he wore trifocal glasses for his cataracts.

He lost all vision when he was 5 years old; he wears prostheses in his eyes.

Janie Bess suspected there was something wrong with her son's hearing but doctors insisted otherwise. However, he didn't react to her dropping an iron skillet on the floor and usually made soothing bird noises.

"By the time we got over one shock, another one would come along," Bess said.

It took a scene in an Air Force clinic to get him help. David was about 2. "The doors really opened for David then," his mother said.

Bess would spend weekends and holidays with his family, that also includes two younger siblings. During the week he attended the blind school and even the Helen Keller National Center in New York.

There were times mother and son were inseparable, particularly after he lost all of his sight.

A teacher suggested Janie Bess show her son how to wash the dishes. She took the advice.

"It was a mess. There was water everywhere," Janie Bess recalled. "But he was so happy. It took him all day to wash three plates. But he made sure they were clean."

She let him hang out clothes and do other household tasks. With her guidance and that of teachers, David Bess became the son his mother knew he could be.

She couldn't be happier. "I'm so proud of him. I used to be defensive and protective."

Only 19 when she gave birth to David, Janie grew up with her son and learned with him.

"God gave me the nerve to stand up to people," she said. "I used to be the cry baby in the family."

The book was written to encourage others. "I've found so many people who have less than David," she said. "And they say 'my life is over' and they give up."

She offers them no pity, instead telling them to count their blessings rather than complain.

"David has had a full life. He has touched so many lives," Janie Bess said.

David Bess has a wonderful sense of humor. When asked how he shaves, he replied, "with a razor" and chuckled.

When the topic of what makes him happy surfaced, he noted it would please him if this reporter learned sign language.

Janie Bess will have a book signing and lead an open critique during the upcoming "Buried Treasure" writing workshop Oct. 7-9 at the Fairfield Holiday Inn Select. For more information on the conference visit www.writersclubconference.com.

Reach Amy Maginnis-Honey at 427-6957 or amaginnis@dailyrepublic.net.

Excerpt from 'Visions' by Janie P. Bess

"I looked at my little son lying in a small glass bed with a special light over it. He was pushing up on his legs while lying on his stomach. He looked just like his father. I knew then to name him David Bess Jr.

"His coloring was deep reddish-brown, just like his dad. The nurse was right. He had plenty of hair, black as coal, with the most beautiful curls covering his head.

"He had the tiniest lips I'd ever seen. His beautiful eyelashes were long and plush, like black fans resting on his small round cheeks.

"He didn't open his eyes. I was dying to see his eyes. I couldn't believe this little creature actually came from me. It was truly amazing."

By Amy Maginnis-Honey