Lucky Seven or When Valerie "Fell" For Me

Valerie has been doing a bunch of posts about us. I feel remiss. I want to talk about about her(us) as well.

Our 7th anniversary is coming up. Let me tell you one of my favorite stories.

FALL 2002

Valerie had come back to school at BYU-Idaho. I was starting my second year there. I was friends with some of her friends. She was in theater. She was really good. I was in improv. I was not good. (Then. I got better later.)

The first time we met was after an improv show. I had been remarkably unfunny. Afterwards, someone introduced Valerie to me. She looked sassy. Just as we started talking, my girlfriend at the time ran out and told me how good I'd been. Valerie had a 'oh, hell no' look on her face. That was the end of us for a while.

I wouldn't say it was a slow burn between us, it was just complicated. I was kind of a serial dater, Valerie was and is her own person, and we hadn't really figured out 'us' yet.

Fast forward a few months, we'd become friends-ish. I had a different girlfriend but it was stretching a little.

Then one day it was after improv practice, we were both at the Kirkham where all the theater and improv geeks hung out.

Valerie was walking down some stairs with Shiloh. I was walking towards the stairs with some of the improv guys. Suddenly, Valerie trips. A really good one. So much it turned her around and she was going to crash onto her back.

I'm not sure why I did it. Maybe it was because I liked her. Because I did. It may be because I have a little bit of hero complex. Because I do. It may be because I wanted to do something for Valerie. A person so self sustaining it's almost impossible to do anything for her that she cannot do for herself.

I dove.

Leapt. Baseball slid under her. Got my my arms under her back to save her from the perilous two foot fall. And when all the parts, arms and legs and necks, settled she looked down at me under her and said:

"What are you doing?"

And I said something like:

"Trying to save/help/catch you."

And she said something like:

"Why?"

And I said something like:

"Because you were falling/tripping/you know..."

And we disentangled. Valerie was a little embarrassed. And I was a little confused. My status as cool and elusive was totally shattered in my moment of pointless and heroic. It didn't start us dating. It didn't bond us together.

But I think I grabbed her butt. Double smooth.