Venus Hawkins napped in her car while her friends danced at a party inside and woke up just in time to go in and meet her beloved.
Venus went to a Black Alumni Society reunion at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 2005 and because she had a roomy SUV, she drove her friends around to all the activities.
The first time I saw my future spouse:
He says: “I thought, ‘Wow, look how she’s dancing!’”
She says: “I knew that I wanted him in my life. He had such a magnetic personality and a beautiful smile and he was just so happy go lucky. I didn’t want to miss out on that.”
On our wedding day:
He says: “I felt all the emotion that I could ever feel. We held each other’s hand and we started out giggling and laughing and we finished off crying — it was happy tears.”
She says: “All I wanted to do that day was say my vows and get married. Everything else was extra.”
My advice for a long happy marriage:
He says: “You have to be able to laugh. Always keep laughing. Never take yourself seriously.”
She says: “Laughing is important. And you’ve got to communicate.”
"By the time this party rolled around, I was just so tired," Venus says. "I drove everybody to the party, and they all got out and went in. But I said, 'I'm just gonna sit out here in the car and take me a little nap.'"
The party was wrapping up as she made her way inside, but she decided to get a couple of dances in and headed to the dance floor alone.
Enter Will Torrence, who was at the reunion with his friends.
"He made himself my dance partner, with this huge grin on his face," Venus says. "I mean, just a cheesy grin, and he was dancing and talking. He was just so jolly and happy."
She couldn't help laughing.
"I think I was showing off my belt buckle and my outfit," Will says. "I don't know what that was. I had on a belt buckle and a country-western pearl-button shirt on for some reason. I basically went up to her doing my dance moves."
Venus' friend saw them dancing and came over. She -- and several other friends -- knew Will from graduate school.
"Once I found out she was in that group of friends, I just felt more confident and comfortable in approaching her because I knew they were all great people with a great ambition in life," Will says.
When the party was over Venus left with her friends and Will left with his. There was an after-party, though, and Will hoped he would see Venus there.
"I saw her one time for a split second when I first got there, and then I didn't see her again until the end," Will says.
Venus was still tired and had gone back out to her car for another nap.
"I'm not a night owl. By that second party I was just really done with everything," Venus says. "I had to go in on the off chance that maybe this new guy who loves his belt buckle and buttons on his shirt might be in there and I wanted to bump into him again."
When she went back inside, she didn't see Will -- until someone else asked her to dance.
"Will had this look on his face like this was not OK," she says. "When that song was over, I exited stage left and got away from my dance partner as quickly as I could."
As the party ended, Will spotted Venus again.
"I kind of just got close to her and stayed with her all the way till she got to the car. I was going to make sure that nobody else was going to intervene," he says. "I walked all the way with her and her friends, put her in and closed the door."
She didn't see Will again before they both headed home to Little Rock, but he called her a couple of days later. He had a business trip scheduled but they arranged to go out when he got back.
Venus had been sick the week before they were to go out and she had a lingering cough.
"I basically just downed cough syrup all day long, stayed in bed and rested, drank water in anticipation of this date," she says.
They decided to have a low-key evening, with takeout and a movie at Will's place. Venus took a drink of the wine Will offered her after dinner ... and promptly fell asleep. She woke up the next morning on Will's couch, with a blanket over her.
"I was totally mortified," she laughs. "But he was a perfect gentleman."
For their second date, they chose to have lunch and listen to some music.
"I was awake the whole time," Venus says.
In August 2006, they went to dinner and Will intended to propose at the restaurant. It was crowded and loud, though, and Venus had a headache -- the time wasn't right. They went to a park on the river to relax and watch the water, and suddenly it seemed perfect.
Will and Venus were married on July 27, 2007, in the Pulaski County Regional Center's Jeffrey Hawkins Conference Room, which was named for Venus's great-grandfather.
Will had moved to Omaha, Neb., to teach at the University of Nebraska before they were engaged. Venus had no intention of moving to another state to be with a "boyfriend." She did move with a fiancé, however.
They returned to Little Rock in 2008.
They have two daughters -- McKenna, 13, and Chloe, 10. Will has three adult children from a previous relationship -- Quentin and Dominic of Little Rock and Makerio of Fayetteville.
Venus fell for Will because of his contagious smile.
"We laugh all the time," she says. "He is a smile, and I like that."
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High Profile on 04/05/2020