Jeff Latham was on vacation in June 2001 in Mazatlan, Mexico, when he and his brother went to a bar during foam night, where soap bubbles fill the dance floor.
As Jeff and his brother watched the place fill with bubbles, the music thumped loud enough that they could feel it pounding in their chests.
After grabbing a drink, Jeff noticed that the dance floor was starting to fill up with people. That’s when he saw her, a beautiful girl with blond hair and eyes as green as emeralds.
“I thought she was gorgeous,” Jeff said. “I thought she was out of my league.”
The girl caught Jeff looking at her. He felt his heart drop, his palms get sweaty and butterflies flutter in his stomach.
She came over and asked why he wasn’t dancing. He told her he didn’t like to dance. He choked. She left.
About 20 minutes later, the girl returned and pulled Jeff onto the dance floor. He told her his name, and he thought she said her name was Lori. She was from Mountlake Terrace. The couple decided to meet at noon the next day.
Jeff went to the appointed place at noon the next day. He waited a while with his brother, then left when Lori didn’t show. The rest of his vacation Jeff kept looking over his shoulder to see if she was there. His brother was sick of hearing about it, but Jeff felt like he had lost the girl of his dreams.
After returning home to Snohomish County, Jeff couldn’t get Lori out of his head. He woke up one morning and told his mother that he was going to find her.
“I had a feeling in my gut,” Jeff said. “My mom thought I was crazy.”
First Jeff went to Mountlake Terrace and drove around. He thought maybe he could go to an espresso stand and someone might know Lori who graduated from high school in 2001.
After a while he realized his plan might not work. He drove to the Mukilteo waterfront and sat there, losing hope with every minute that passed.
Finally Jeff decided to give up his quest. He went to Alderwood mall, where he bought a T-shirt and went looking for a CD.
As he was buying a movie soundtrack, Jeff turned to pay the cashier and about 10 feet away from him stood his dream girl, the one he had been searching for that very day.
“It was pretty exhilarating,” Jeff said. “I had butterflies in my stomach.”
Jeff asked if her name was Lori. She said it was Rorrie, short for Rorrielle. He accused her of standing him up the day after they met. She said he stood her up. It didn’t matter. Jeff and Rorrie exchanged phone numbers and have been together ever since.
Jeff Latham and Rorrielle McGhie, both of Arlington, plan an Aug. 2 wedding in Granite Falls.
Their parents are John and Rene Latham of Marysville and Rob and Kerry McGhie of Lynnwood.
Jeff is a real estate agent with Towne and Country Real Estate in north Snohomish County. Rorrie works at Reliable Hardware in Snohomish.
The couple got engaged on Oct. 5 at a party when Jeff went to the bar, approached the DJ and took the microphone. He called up his friends for support, thanked everyone for being there, got down on one knee and asked Rorrie to marry him.
“She’s beautiful, she’s happy and she’s a real good, genuine person,” Jeff said.
He’s looking forward to their life together, taking it one step at a time.
“She means a lot to me,” Jeff said. “I can’t picture myself with anyone else.”
For information on Celebrations and Love Story, call Christina Harper at 425-339-3491 or e-mail harper@heraldnet.com.
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