Page 6 - The Wayne Dispatch

Love, Continued from page 5 opens up again. At that time, they’d
like to do some international travel.
She laughingly continued, “We had “Make sure you are on the same
both dated financial nightmares be- page on religion, having and rearing
fore meeting each other, so this was children, money, and long-term
an important ‘ah-ha’ moment.” goals” the Wagners advise couples
“My mom was diagnosed with preparing to spend a lifetime to-
cancer while we were planning our gether. “Not talking about these sub-
wedding,” said Vicki about the chal- jects is not the same as agreeing on
lenges that the couple have faced in them.”
their time together. “She lost her bat-
tle 3 years ago. I don't know what I
would have done without Phil's love Cook Love Story
and support during that difficult December 27,1960. The day Gin-
time.” ger and Paul Cook married at First
The couple married on June 29, United Methodist Church in Wayne.
2013. With almost 8 years of mar- December 27, 2020. The day of
riage under their belt, Phil and Vicki the last worship service before First
also share their home with their two United Methodist Church closed its
young children. Nathaniel is 6 and doors.
Vivian is 4. Paul and Ginger Cook visited the
“We both believe marriage is for Councilman Phil and Vicki Wagner at Ford Field in Detroit. church before its closing to remi-
life, so we work hard to resolve our during the lock-down,” admitted tour some Detroit landmarks. We nisce on their 60 years together. Be-
disagreements. We also maintain re- Phil. also love spending a week each sum- cause the new owner of the church is
spect for each other while disagree- The couple count the births of mer somewhere ‘up north’ for family doing renovations, the old altar was
ing. It took us way too long to find their children and buying their first vacation. We've rented cottages in being removed when Paul was able
each other to ruin a great marriage house in Wayne in 2014 as highlights East Jordan, Cadillac, and Gaylord to salvage a piece of it. The altar was
over disagreements and foolish of their relationship. over the last few years,” said Phil. the one that the couple had been
pride.” “We both love history and archi- “Post-COVID, sadly, we've just been married at 60 years ago to the day. A
2020 has brought additional tecture, so on our occasional date- watching Perry Mason re-runs.” token of their special day.
challenges to the Wagners. “2020 nights, we enjoy dinner and then With several small home renova- In the intervening years, Paul and
had its many challenges, especially driving through historic neighbor- tion projects on the horizon, the cou-
entertaining/schooling our children hoods. Pre-COVID, we would often ple plans to stay busy until the world See Love, page 7

6 · February 2021 · The Wayne Dispatch