How I Met My Husband: Twice for the First Time

 How I Met My Husband: Twice for the First

Life has a funny way of bringing people together. Sometimes, you meet someone and the connection is instant. Other times, it takes a bit of serendipity to make it happen. In my case, I met my husband twice for the first time, and it's a story worth sharing.

On February 14, 2003, I was part of the planning committee for the LDS Institute Valentine's Day party—a gathering designed for singles to mingle and possibly find a match. The evening was filled with fun activities like speed dating, “shuffle your buns,” and a game inspired by the old MTV show, “Singled Out.”

As part of my committee duties, I was busy recruiting participants for the games when the cutest guy walked in with his friends. He had red curly hair and the most gorgeous smile I’d ever seen. I introduced myself and asked them to sign up for some games. With a charming smile, he flirted back, saying he would only sign up if I was playing too. After that, I mingled with other guests and soon found myself in the speed dating game. Fate, it seemed, was on my side as I ended up sitting across from the redhead again.

We hit it off instantly. He told me about his love for the outdoors and even invited me to go rock climbing with him the next day. Sadly, I couldn’t make it. As the party ended, I realized I didn’t get his number—only his name, Bill Brasky. Now, if you’re a fan of Saturday Night Live, you’d recognize that name. Unfortunately, I wasn’t, and I didn’t.

In the following weeks, I kept telling my friend Jimmy about this amazing guy named Bill. Jimmy, however, had no idea who Bill  was. Despite my detailed descriptions—short guy, curly red hair—Jimmy couldn’t help. Eventually, I gave up hope of ever seeing "Bill" again.

Fast forward six months. Out of the blue, Jimmy called and said he wanted to set me up with a friend of his who loves rock climbing and goes to the Black Cliffs every Saturday morning. His friend's name was Evan, and Jimmy was convinced I’d like him. Eager for a new adventure, my cousin Bridgett and I headed to the Black Cliffs one Saturday morning.

As we walked up the hill, I spotted a familiar head of curly red hair. “Bridgett, that’s Bill!” I exclaimed. When we reached the top, he introduced himself as Evan. It turned out, he had used a fake name (a fact that would have been handy to know if I watched Saturday Night Live).

We started climbing, and Evan—true to his playful nature—joked that if I didn’t make it to the top, I’d have to kiss him. Well, let’s just say I didn’t make it to the top.

And that’s how I met my husband—twice for the first time. To this day, we still laugh about him giving me the wrong name. I will even still call him Bill from time to time just to remember our first meeting. Looking back, it’s clear that fate, a bit of humor, and a love for adventure brought us together. And now, every time we watch Saturday Night Live, we can’t help but laugh at the name "Bill Brasky one heck of a guy" and the journey it took to find each other.