 | What is it like for a six year old boy to meet the star of all his favorite movies? Magical, would probably be the most accurate word that comes to mind. Derek has seen Val on the big screen, he owns most of his movies, and he recognized Val immediately in person. And while it was the most exciting thing to happen to him in a long time, it was also the most natural exchange. Children are so innocent and they just say what ever comes into their minds. Immediately Derek proudly announced that he liked Val's movies. To which Val responded "My son Jack makes fun of my movies." I don't think anyone doubted, Derek was indeed Val's biggest fan! After being blessed with an opportunity to watch my son get to meet and visit with Val, I have no doubt in my mind that he is generous, caring, thoughtful and loves children. |
| Derek happened to be wearing his Hot Wheel sandals with the Velcro straps on the day that he met Val. It was quite a coincidence that Val too was wearing his Velcro sandals. Right away the two were able to compare shoes, and Val demonstrated for Derek the wonderful noise that you can make by ripping the Velcro up and down, especially fun to do when people want you to be quiet! Okay, so maybe there are some things that I hope Derek won't remember! LOL Val also teased Derek later on, pretending he was going to step on his toes. Derek thought it was great fun to have Val playing with him!
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 | When Derek told Val that he has his own copy of The Ghost and the Darkness. Val seemed surprised about this, and asked Derek, "Doesn't it scare you?" Derek said "No! I like that movie!" Then Val went on to relate how he had seen Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds, when he was a kid, and it had scared him. He almost seemed to shake his head when he said "Kids just can't be scared anymore." |
| To Derek's delight, Val told him about the fun activities he does on his ranch when his children are home with him. One of the things they enjoy is riding Val's ATV, (which was pictured in the In Style magazine article). Val shared that Jack got a fishing pole for his birthday and had recently caught a fish, and then quickly clarified that he had caught the fish in the river that runs on his property, but not while riding the ATV. Val told Derek that it was pretty cool that we have a river running through our town. Derek has visited the Boise river many times and agreed it was pretty cool that it went right through Anne Morrison Park. |  |
 | When you have had a wonderful experience like meeting Val Kilmer, you certainly want to have a picture to remind you of the event. Val was more then generous in allowing several pictures of him and Derek to be taken together, though he seemed to think the footwear would have been the better place to focus the camera! LOL Val is not one to hold still in front of the camera, probably comes from years of people taking his picture while he's entering movie premiers and such, so we have a lot of "action" shots. Photo shoots with six year old boys are not serious things you know, so Derek was treated to more playing and Val kept putting his tie in front of Derek's face, flipping it up and down and sharing the picture that was printed on the back side, for those of us watching them. Val seems to have a wee bit of mischievous in his sense of humor, which I thought very funny! |
| Derek was pretty excited as you might imagine, meeting a celebrity is a big deal for adults, let alone a little boy. After stories and hugs and pictures were taken, Derek left with the biggest grin from ear to ear. He couldn't stop talking about the wonderful time he had meeting Val and finding out that the man on the screen was the nicest person. Maybe Val Kilmer is still a kid at heart himself, but what ever the reason, he loves children. I will always remember how patient he was with Derek, generous with his time, and very thoughtful to make sure a little boy had an experience he will always treasure.
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