BY KEISA SHARPE | Special to the Birmingham Times
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
HERNANDEZ AND VALERIE JOHNSON
Live: Birmingham (Winewood)
Married: Dec. 19, 1987
Met: 1985, at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Birmingham. Valerie went to church with her sister Angela and says she spotted Hernandez from afar at church and claimed him before he knew who she was.
“I told my sister when I saw him, that he was going to be my husband one day when I didn’t know he really would be my husband one day,” she said laughing.
Months would pass before they would see each other again, but Valerie says they missed each other initially because he was in the choir loft, and she was looking for him in the pews.
But they were reunited in service through their love of music.
“I decided to join the choir months later, and I was like, ‘Here’s the guy that I thought was so cute,’” she said. Hernandez was a tenor.
First date: After months of seeing one another at choir rehearsal, Hernandez asked Valerie on a date. He had an extra ticket for Valerie to attend a concert with him and his sister in the summer of 1985 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC).
Valerie took Hernandez up on the offer, even though she doesn’t remember many details about the actual concert.
“I was joking about (the fact that) I don’t even remember the concert now because I just was excited to get an opportunity to go somewhere with (Hernandez and his sister). I don’t remember who was playing,” she said.
“It didn’t even matter, it probably could have been Elvis Presley,” said Hernandez, who says he didn’t remember many details about the concert and who performed, either. “She didn’t care. She just wanted to go to the concert with me,” he said.
The turn: Valerie says the timing was right when she met Hernandez. Before meeting him she almost became discouraged with the dating scene.
Both attended West End High School but didn’t know one another while attending school. Hernandez is seven years older.
“When we started dating, my friends would tell me, ‘Do you know who you’re dating? You’re dating someone famous,’” said Valerie.
Hernandez, who is a retired chef (he worked at EWTN the Eternal Word Network, a cable television network which presents Catholic-themed programming) was a football standout in high school, described by his friends as an “elusive running back.” Hernandez also played football in college. He went to the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship.
He still has a love of sports and says he has “a room dedicated at his home to the University of Alabama football.”
“Playing football was natural for me,” he said. “In grade school at Our Lady of Fatima, I took pictures with Alabama head football coach Paul Bear Bryant at an all-star football banquet for the youth athletic league sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham,” said Hernandez.
The proposal: Aug. 22, 1987. What most attracted Valerie to Hernandez is his gentle spirit. “My husband is so honest …. just the most endearing gentleman and just quiet spirited,” said Valerie.
She says his quietness and meekness made it challenging for her to “read” his intentions.
“We used to love to go to the now-closed Western Sizzler in (Homewood) and on one occasion after dinner, he wanted to go to Vulcan Park,” said Valerie, who describes her husband as “quiet and unassuming, saying “at some point, he started just asking me a lot of questions. I didn’t get it at first … but I put two and two together and adding it up … and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s trying to propose,’” she recalled.
“I didn’t go that far (to get on one knee), but I did ask her as we sat around a picnic table. And she said yes that night,” said Hernandez.
And Valerie added that she accepted “with no hesitation.”
The wedding: Four months after they were engaged they decided to marry. What she remembered most was how her aunt encouraged them to move the Dec. 26, date back a few days so they could spend their first Christmas in 1987 as husband and wife.
Hernandez and Valerie wed December 19 in a traditional ceremony at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church.
Their colors were dusty rose and white burgundy and Father Henry Dickson married the couple. “It was an extremely beautiful date day in the month of December, and it was a warm day,” remembered Hernandez.
“It was so special to marry the person you cherish and look to enjoy a lifelong union…. that was also very memorable,” said Hernandez.
“One thing I remember about the day is how beautiful it was,” said Valerie. “It was a very sunny day in December,” said Valerie.
Words of wisdom: The couple, celebrating 37 years of marriage in December, is reading “The Purpose Driven Life” together. The book, written by Pastor Rick Warren, helps people uncover their purpose in life.
“We are just grateful that we’re going down a deeper journey of building our relationship even more carefully with God,” said Valerie.
Hernandez offers simple keys for couples. “Get to know one another, but the most important thing is to know God. And make sure your relationship is built on love and that God is your strong foundation,” said Hernandez.
“The most important thing is for us to live really for Him (God) and we make that our first priority. And because of that, our relationship and every relationship that we have will just be that much more fruitful.”
Happily ever after: Hernandez 67, and Valerie, 60, are both graduates of West End High School.
After graduation, Hernandez attended Community College in Coffeyville, Kansas, the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship, and later graduated from Jefferson State Community College with a degree in culinary arts.
Valerie retired after a 23-year career as a postal worker, and is currently a volunteer manager with YWCA in Birmingham. They continue to worship at Our Lady of Fatima in Birmingham.
They have two sons and a daughter. Their oldest son, Hernandez II, 35, is a human resources specialist. Their second son Vernon, 31, is a program support assistant at the VA who’s pursuing his master’s degree at the University of West Alabama and youngest daughter, Kaylyn, 29, is a personal trainer with 24e.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
