10-Year Anniversary: How I met Sam, Part 2

I met Sam on Sunday, October 5, 1997. He actually remembers the date better than I do. I just had to confirm the date with him. President Costa (from the Area Authority in Brazil) was coming to give a fireside in Portuguese. I was currently taking a Portuguese class, and his fireside was extra credit for this class. To tell you the truth, I didn't really want to go, but I needed the extra credit. I also felt this "feeling" that I would meet my future spouse there, and didn't really want to meet him yet. I was being very stubborn because I really was in no mood for romance or love, or anything. Quite frankly, I wanted a break from guys. So, after some persuading by my friends and the need for extra credit, I wore my ugliest dress, tied my hair back in a pony tail, and wore the ugliest shade of lipstick that I owned. When I got to the Tanner Building (at BYU) where the fireside was to be held, I immediately noticed Sam there, because he kept looking our way. Sam is like an open book. He is not hard to read, and I could tell immediately that he was eying me. He was engaged in conversation with some of his friends, but when he saw me and my friend, he came over. My friend said, "Hi, Sam." Apparently she knew him from playing in pep band with him at UVSC (Sam used to play the alto sax and clarinet). He started speaking with her and didn't even say anything to me. I was a little put off. Then one of my favorite companions came over with a group of other people from my mission and she said, "Hey, Spear." Apparently they were in the same MTC District. So, my two friends who knew Sam started talking with the large group of friends and I was sort of just standing there. Sam turned to me and put out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Sam Spear." Okay, I don't know very many single girls who don't do this, but I thought to myself, "Dana Spear, well that sounds okay." My next thought was, "I'm going to totally be myself, and if he doesn't like it, that's his problem." "Hi, I'm Dana Rogers," I said, and shook his hand. His next question was, "So, what do you like to do?" And my reply was, "I like to play instruments." He seemed excited about this answer, and asked me about the instruments I played. He told me that he was learning banjo and played the bagpipes. I thought that was really cool. He said, "Maybe we could jam together sometime." He told me later that his parents once asked him what kind of girl he wanted to marry. He told them he wanted to marry a brunette who played instruments. Ironic. We went in to the auditorium and he made sure he sat right in front of me. Once in a while he would look back to make sure I was there. After the meeting he asked me for my name and phone number. I wrote it on a small piece of paper and told him, "Good luck finding me home. I'm never there." For a few years (until he got his new wallet) he carried that piece of paper with him wherever he went. When I got home, I told my roommates, "I met this cool guy today and I gave him my number. I don't think he'll call me, though." I convinced myself that he wasn't going to call. Wrong again.