By Valerie
Apparently, we had a history class together.
The only thing I remember about that European history class is discovering how much I hate war.
But that’s when he first noticed me. I first noticed him when he was behind the piano in a rehearsal for a show I was asked to participate in. So that’s how Brock and I became friends.
Lifelong friends. Eternal friends.
Friends who turned on Coldplay’s Clocks at full volume and stuck our arms out the windows of a yellow Toyota Tacoma and flew. Friends who harmonized to songs that don’t have harmonies written in. Friends who lunched together and templed together and discussed penguins and Jonah and god together. Friends who belonged together.
And when I “fell in love” with my closeted gay best friend because I was marriage-obsessed, we had some conflict. And when I returned from my Mormon mission and came home to a non-closeted gay best friend with a partner, we resolved that conflict like real grown-ups.
This is one of the periods in my life that I cover in a blanket that says, “I’m sorry for what I said when I was Mormon.” But we won’t go into that now.
True love can absolutely be platonic. The warped sense of love I developed in my younger days had no idea it was possible. I believed men and women could not form any connections outside of a romantic one. So at the age of 27 when I felt honest-to-god love for this incredible human, I twisted it into a romantic fairy-tale love. Because I believed the only thing I was made for was marriage and motherhood.
Fast forward a decade plus to meeting my romantic soul mate. Holy hell, is that a different love. My husband Dennis is the most incredible partner, lover, friend. Loving and being loved by him has been the greatest joy of my life. And it has taught me how to differentiate the Loves. I’m sure I’ll write more about Dennis in the future.
But this is the Valerie and Brock love story.
There are a handful of friendships in my life that I consider vital. This is one. Because Brock has been an incredible constant in the chaos of life changes. We have weathered some hellish storms, and our love has grown from the young, silly, unrequited kind to the mature, deep, eternal kind. And I am The Luckiest to have this person in my corner.
We both eventually found our husbands. We both adopted our only daughters. We both have stepped away from our families’ faith. We are both mourning the loss of our four-legged companions. And we both find writing highly therapeutic.
So it’s only natural that we explore the universe together in a blogging project. Who wouldn’t?
I love you, Brock. Let’s do this!
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