There was a sea of bodies watching L.A. Chandler and her band at a Northalsted Market Days performance four years ago.
Chandler, the drummer, just happened to look up when, near the back of all the bodies, she spotted a tall, red-headed female.
Chandler quickly realized it was Shauna Marino, whom she has known for about 20 years and yet, at the time, had not seen in years.
Chandler immediately started waving at her, and the two eventually talked that day.
"She'll probably kill me for telling this [ story, ] but I think it's hilarious," Chandler said with a smile in early January. "She used to play this game with her friends called 'If you could sleep with someone and not get in trouble for it, who would it be?'"
Well, Marino's answers was Chandler.
Sure enough, the two now live together in suburban Berkeley. Chandler gave Marino an engagement ring on New Year's Eve, and the shocked Marino accepted.
They are planning to get married later this winter in Iowa, along with two other lesbian couples from the Chicago area. And then Chandler is looking into options for a class-action lawsuit against the Illinois to recognize their marriage.
"I would prefer to get married in Illinois, but that's [ not ] an option right now," she said.
Chandler works in business development for Hinsdale-based Office Snax. Marino is a technician at the Elgin Mental Health Center.
Chandler also enjoys home repairs. She's played soccer, softball and now just golf. Her dad, William, played soccer in Scotland, and Chandler said the sport is one of her first childhood memories. And she also was soccer teammates years ago with Windy City Times Publisher Tracy Baim.
"Soccer is kind of painful for me to watch now because I want to be out there," Chandler said. "I tried coaching and teaching clinics," but neither was her true calling.
Chandler is the drummer and singer now for a new band called Hot Mess. They hope to be playing locally by the summer, though Chandler has been battling "drummer injuries" to her shoulders, elbows and wrists.
"Between work, working on the house and music, I don't really have an enormous amount of free time," she said.
The Stats
Name: L.A. Chandler
Age: 46
Relationship status: Partnered with Shauna Marino
Pets: Dogs, Minnie and Madison
Hobbies: Drumming, soccer
It's a fact: She has a knack for adjusting things to perfection:
"Symmetry is very important to me. I go around and adjust things in the morning. I guess I'm anal-retentive or [ suffering from ] OCD; Shauna just laughs at me."
