Cortney Holloway Sr. and Moniqueka Holloway of Wichita, together 17 years.

Cortney and Moniqueka, born and raised in Wichita, were married May 28, 2005. Cortney is a Kansas Dept. of Revenue Agent and  Moniqueka is a Senior Director of Compliance at Heartspring. They are the proud parents of two sons, Cortney Jr. age 16, Caiden age 14.

When did you meet? We met in college during Christmas break in 2002 at a club called Graham Central Station.

How did you meet? Our next meeting was a month later in an African-American literature class at Wichita State University. We started dating then and never looked back.

Tell us about your first date. Our first date was at my apartment. I invited Moniqueka over and we cooked dinner together. We made lasagna and we also made chocolate-covered strawberries. After dinner we went to the movies.

The Turn (how did you know he/she was the one?) Moniqueka knew I was the one the first time we prayed together. I knew she was the one because we had a genuine connection from day one.

The Wedding. We both come from large families, the Holloways and the Dawsons. We didn’t know our families were good friends. They’d grown up together. It was lots of fun. With Cortney’s uncles as the bartenders, the reception is one people still talk about to this day. Moniqueka’s aunt even hosted an after-reception party at her home. As the kids say now, our wedding was “lit.”

Who’s more social? We’re both pretty social, we enjoy hanging with other married couples.

Who’s the neat freak? Cortney is definitely the neat freak. He likes for everything to be in its place. He dislikes clutter and he gets annoyed when I don’t put away my things.

Who tends to be more romantic? Moniqueka believes she is more romantic because of her great planning abilities, which are usually surprises. However, nothing has been able to top Cortney’s 14 days of love that consisted of a romantic gesture each day for the first 14 days in February leading up to him asking for Moniqueka’s hand in marriage back in 2004.

What have you learned to appreciate about your wife/husband that you did know when you were first married? Moniqueka has learned to appreciate having a strong male partner to assist with raising our two boys as she didn’t know how crucial that would be until later on. Cortney learned to appreciate Moniqueka for truly taking on the for better or worse vow. After being shot in 2017, Moniqueka cared for me in such a special way that I will forever be grateful for.

Words of wisdom for other couples? Something my dad, the late Gary Holloway told us before he passed: “Always be friends.”  Keep family and friends out of your business.

Who does the cooking? Moniqueka does all the cooking. She’s an excellent cook. Her specialties are chicken pot pie and chili.

What place within 200 miles would you like to go to spend a few days. What would you do there and why? Any place that Cortney would like to spend a few days would be more than 200 miles away; he wouldn’t want to go to any small town in Kansas. Moniqueka would like to go to Prairiewood in Manhattan, KS, for a few days for the peaceful atmosphere.

Who’s better at gifting? Moniqueka is better at gifting. She pays more attention to what I want.

Elliott & Aquilla Clark are both retired and have been married since 1985. They are the parents of four daughters, and have five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Both are natives of Missouri and live in KCMO.

When did you meet? July 1984

How did you meet? Elliott moved next door to her in Huntsville, MO.

Tell us about your first date. We went to this club named Salt and Pepper, had a few drinks, shot some pool and then we had a nice romantic walk through downtown Moberly, MO.

The Turn (how did you know he/she was the one?) We had our ups and downs but we knew that the Lord brought us together for a reason and not for a season!

The Wedding. We have renewed our wedding vows three times, but the last time was we renewed in April, 2014, for our 25th anniversary. It was when we actually had a formal wedding ceremony.

Who’s more social? Elliott is more social. Aquilla is more of an introvert.

Who’s the neat freak? Aquilla is the neat “OCD freak.” She completely cleans the house every Saturday, whether it is needed or not.

Who does the cooking? Elliott does the cooking because he really enjoys it and loves putting a smile on other people’s faces and bragging.  

What place within 200 miles would you like to go to spend a few days?  That would be Columbia, MO, to visit her family and eat at our favorite restaurant, Big Momma’s.

Who tends to be more romantic? Elliott is the more romantic, he likes spoiling her and she enjoys being spoiled.  

Who’s better at gifting? Aquilla likes to gift because she likes to shop for things she thinks he would like.

What have you learned to appreciate about your wife/husband that you didn’t know when you were first married? We have both learned to love one another completely and realize that it’s the two of us until the wheels fall off.

Words of wisdom for other couples? Keep God first and never go to bed angry, and learn to apologize no matter who is wrong.