By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
April 9, 2000
Laura Cofran knew what she was looking for when she placed a personal ad in her local newspaper. She wanted a tall man with a great body who loved children as much as dancing.
So when her future husband Jeff called, she broke the ice by asking him, “What is your suit size, waist and inseam?”
There was a long silence before he asked, “Why?”
Rather than making up a lie, Laura cut to the chase: “So that I can envision your body.”
He gave her his measurements.
They continued talking. Laura liked him enough to arrange to meet him at O’Hare Airport when he returned from a trip to Canada. She liked the idea of meeting in a public place, and it doesn’t get much more public than O’Hare.
Armed with a sign with his name on it, Laura waited by the gate for him. At first, she wasn’t impressed.
“His olive and cream striped sweater reminded me of `Where’s Waldo,’ ” she says. “Add to that a driving cap, laptop computer bag, another carry-on bag and an overcoat over his other arm, he was quite a sight. We walked side-by-side toward the baggage area and I was literally measuring him up.
“What amazed me was he was carrying so much already. How much more was he going to pick up at baggage claim? `This guy was weird,‘ I thought. I thanked him for meeting me, shook his hand and walked back to my car. I thought to myself, `Well, $3 for parking–not too much wasted.”
Jeff was a little more impressed.
“I was at the point where I wanted to meet someone and have a steady relationship again,” he says. “My first impression was that she was definitely outgoing and could keep a conversation going. I’m not great at that when I meet someone. She seemed to have a positive outlook on life and you could recognize that she was very effervescent. She also seemed to care a lot about her children, which I liked. I am very family-oriented as well.”
Jeff got a second chance to impress her when he invited her to a party. It was December 1995, and Laura thought a holiday party might be fun.
“I think it’s a good idea to give everyone a second chance,” she says.
During the car ride to the country club, where it was being held, things didn’t go so well. The two barely spoke to one other. Once at the party, Laura spent her time chatting with the rest of the table.
“I’m in sales and get along really well with strangers,” she says. “I’m a very social person. I don’t try to hide. I’m like, `Where’s the limelight, how big is it and how fast can I get under it?’ Jeff is a lot more shy and reserved. We’re very different.”
But the momentum shifted gears when he asked her to dance.
“The music began and we did a little cha cha,” she remembers. “We were both rusty. We did the fox-trot. Better. By the time we danced to the waltz, I couldn’t believe it. I was floating across the floor. He literally swept me off my feet.”
Jeff asked Laura to marry him in 1998. Both now 45, they were married the following year in Naperville, where they currently live.
“Was it love at first sight?” she asks. “Definitely not. We grew together as dancing partners, friends, companions, and then became man and wife. The logical order. We found out that we are each weird in our own ways.”
