ST. CLOUD -- A St. Cloud couple will be renewing their wedding vows Friday.

Dorothy "Dottie" Riley and Anthony "Cooley" Riley have been together for a total of 39 years, and Friday will be their 32nd wedding anniversary. They are celebrating the day with a vow renewal ceremony at the Atonement Lutheran Church.

Dottie says it was her idea for the vow renewal, which was actually supposed to happen on their 30th anniversary but got delayed two years because of COVID-19. Cooley battled COVID and was on life support for 34 days and was not expected to live.

We never were the type of couple that would go to bed mad, never. We always made amends, whatever we needed to do.

The couple is known affectionately throughout the community as "Mama Dottie" and "Daddy Cooley" and are expecting a lot of family and friends to help them celebrate their day.

When people see good people that's what you've got to expect, because the word mama is big, nobody is going to call you mama unless they feel like you treated them like a mother.

Friday is also Cooley's 63rd birthday. He says he got the idea to get married on his birthday because his dad also got married on his birthday.

Their son is Cortez Riley who is known for using his birthday as a way to give back to the community with a charity event.

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Earlier this year the Riley's were awarded the Higher Works Collaborative's 2022 Community Impact Award winners.

They say they just love giving back and seeing people happy and believe it is a calling from a higher power.

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