Chicago Tribune Staff - Love Notes: Stories of Love, Loss, and Coming Together

A slow elevator helped Kathy and Tom Boslett meet, but each had to take the initiative to launch their relationship.

When 42-year-old Kathy Cook attended an oil industry conference in Canada in 2008, she wasnt anticipating that a great time would be had by all.

There would be a lot of talk about oil drilling, said Kathy, who was working as a manager in Houston at the time. The only other person I knew at the conference was my boss. I didnt really want to leave my hotel room.

While waiting for a ridiculously slow elevator, Kathy spotted Tom Boslett, a 48-year-old BP employee based in Chicago. They struck up a conversation but went their separate ways.

But they found themselves reunited later that night waiting for the same elevator.

Id decided to go to the cocktail party, so I dragged myself to the elevator and rounded the corner and there he was again, this time alone, she said. He was quite handsome. And something told me, Hes there for a reason. Dont blow it. So we started talking again and never stopped talking. The elevator took forever, which was a good thing because it gave us time to talk and talk. Normally, Im really shy.

Thats the odd thing because Im shy too, Tom added. Its pretty unusual for me to talk that long with someone Ive just met.

The rest of the evening, Kathy and Tom didnt leave each others side. He shared that he had been divorced for four years and had three daughters, ages 25, 20 and 17. Kathy revealed that she had never been married. Tom liked to run marathons. Kathy had never run more than 3 miles at one time.

He mentioned his passion for running marathons, and somehow I decided to say, You know, Ive always wanted to run a half-marathon. Would you help train me and come run it with me? Kathy recalled. Now mind you, I really had no desire to run a half-marathon, but that would give me a reason to call him and continue talking to one another.

Though their relationship was young, both felt its impact.

I called my friend Fran and said, Fran, I am so smitten by this guy, Kathy said. I actually used that word.

And I went out to LA to visit a friend, Tom recalled, and I told him, I met a woman at a conference last week and Im completely smitten. Thats just not a word thats used, and we both used it.

When Kathy returned to Houston after the conference, she had no power for eight days, thanks to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. So we talked on the phone for hours every day, she said.

Until our phones went dead, Tom said. We covered everything: families, where we were in life, our values. All of it.

Tom, who was traveling to Houston for work, asked Kathy to dinner. Their first date was such a success, they made plans for another visit a few weeks later.

When I got back (from the first visit), I was sitting there at the office, and one of my co-workers hovers around the desk and says, So howd it go in Houston? and I looked him square in the eye and said, I think Im going to marry that woman, and he just about fell over!

Kathy had a similar feeling. I knew after that first date (that) I was going to marry you, Kathy said to Tom, putting her hand on his. I just knew. I dont know why. I cant explain that, but I knew.

They continued to date long distance for the next couple of months as Kathy trained for the half-marathon.

Meanwhile, Kathys parents werent as excited about their daughters new beau.

When I first told them about Tom, they thought I had lost my mind, she said. Id been on my own for years; I had a career, I owned my own home. I took care of myself. I was very independent. And theyre hearing I have just met someone I think Im going to marry? They didnt know what to make of all this.

They called me that guy for a while, Tom said with a laugh. And I understood, because they didnt know me at all. I told Kathy we had to go for a visit.

By Christmas, three months after theyd met, Kathy took Tom to meet her family in California. The meeting went so well, Tom secretly asked Kathys father for her hand in marriage. He bought an engagement ring and planned to surprise Kathy with a proposal at the end of the half-marathon, which was taking place in Austin, Texas, the weekend of Valentines Day, 2009.

I ran the whole thing with that ring Velcroed into my shorts, said Tom, who ran the half-marathon with Kathy rather than the full marathon. I was checking it frequently.

When they reached the finish line, Tom asked Kathy to join him in front of the photographer for a photo.

I had zero desire to get my picture taken, she said. I was exhausted, but hes kind of insistent about it, so we go up and stand in front of the photographer, and the next thing I know hes down on one knee asking, Will you marry me? I said, You cant do this right now! I look terrible!

I had to shake her hand a little bit, Tom added. I said, Youre not going to get the ring unless you answer me.

They were married June 26, 2009, in the San Francisco area and now live in Hinsdale. Tom, 53, still runs, but Kathy, 46, has retired her running shoes.

I do Pilates instead, she said. We go biking and we garden together. And were planning a vacation to Rome with Toms daughters. We cant wait.

And theyre both grateful they stepped out of their comfort zone while waiting for that slow elevator in Canada.

We were both open to having something walk into our lives, Kathy said. And thats not to say that we just sat back and let it happen, because if wed just sat back and let it happen, nothing would have happened. We did have to put ourselves out there. And that was scary.

But we were both, in our minds and in our hearts, ready.

Dating long distance, said Tom Boslett, intensified his and Kathys commitment: In our case, it helped. A decision had to be made. And we decided we wanted to be together.