Mary Anne & Paul Cooper
Paul met Mary Anne at an LDS singles dance in Utah County in December 2005. He sang to her as they danced and she squeezed his hand in a flirt. She came the next week to the New Years dance, but with a date. This did not slow her down & they danced again, she squeezed his hand again. She came to one more dance a couple of weeks later and he gave her his business card. They lost contact with each other for a few months as she was dating another guy. Finally he sent her a message in his LDS Mingle profile which sparked her interest and she used his card to call him for the first time. They met again at a singles activity in American Fork the next day. He now had her phone number and called later that day. He was really beating around the bush on the call, and she finally had to ask him if he was asking her out. They explored the Cottonwood Canyons then had a late dinner at the Mayan. From there he had to survive a lot of competition for her attention. But he was so impressed with how easy she was to talk with, how very pretty he found her, and how good it felt to hold her hand - that he readily ran any challenge she threw at him.
Mary Anne & Paul had seen each other nearly every day for several months & they decided to marry in the Jordan River LDS Temple on September 16th 2006. They enjoy going for rides on Paul's BMW motorcycle or camping in the mountains with a 4WD. It is great finding just the right trees for a hammock or walking along mountain streams. They can both make a 1-match fire and like to be inventive on camping meals. They read scriptures together and pray together every day.
Paul has been in the singles program for over 5 years and has really enjoyed it. He's sung with their choir which got to sing in General Conference a couple of years ago. He is popular at the dances and firesides and has a great group of friends and camping buddys. He has 4 children & you can read about them elsewhere on this site:(http://www.familyhistoryfun.com/family//). Mary Anne also has 4 chilidren. This page will contain photos and information on them shortly. The 2 girls were excited about the wedding, the sons were a bit more reserved, but they approved.
Mary Anne & Paul both really like being outdoors in the mountains. Paul has sailboats, and likes to explore caves - and he has not shared these activities with Mary Anne yet, but thinks she will enjoy them as much as hiking in the mountains. Below are some pictures taken at Cecret Lake at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Mary Anne became a step-grandmother when she married Paul. Here is a picture of Paul's grandson Nathan Joseph Lewis. He got a sister Ella Jane Lewis at 11:29 AM 3 May 2007 - 8 pounds 22 inches!
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The Rest of the Story
Paul was traveling 60 MPH southbound on the highway to work Thursday morning (28 Sept 06) on his BMW motorcycle when someone in a big SUV suddenly slammed into him from the side and knocked him off the bike. He tumbled 150 feet into on-coming traffic during rush hour, but none of those cars hit him. He was wearing a helmet, which saved his life. He was rushed to the LDS trauma center after all his clothes were cut off. While there his heart stopped for a little while & he was kept over night in the heart unit. The impact of the crash tore up a leather jacket, leather gloves, and knocked off one of his sturdy leather boots. His feet were so swollen & bloody they took x-rays of them, but there were no breaks there. He did have a broken right wrist, broken ribs, & shattered bones in his left hand that required reconstructive surgery. He'd only been married 12 days when this happened. His lovely wife, Mary Anne, was very supportive and gave him great care. She, fed, dressed, bathed him for the first 8 days of recovery when casts took the use of his hands from him. He wore splints for months. It was very difficult to learn that the guy who hit him just left him for dead without stopping. This was hard on the new marriage.
Shortly into our wonderful marriage Mary Anne & I discovered some needs that we each had, which the other simply could not fulfill. We gave it a great, worthy try and each of us grew so much with that effort. We gave each other love and support as we had never given in our lives. It is so true that you love most them you serve most. This wonderful marriage ended on 16 April 2007 (our 7-month anniversary) and we parted as friends, dear friends. We have no regrets and thank The Lord for our time together. In most short marriages there is something just too awful to live with, and often one party or both feel diminished... with us, we both felt truly enriched by the experience. We have tested our friendship after the divorce, and it is dear to us both, and we are happier together as close friends than we were married.
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