Lifting up a wounded soldier with letters
On May 23 Army Reservist Daniel Guerrero of Coeur d'Alene was wounded in combat in northern Afghanistan, five months into his third tour of duty - the first two deployments were to Iraq. Sgt. Guerrero's wife, Meagan and their two young children, Skyla (5) and Aivan (3) will be waiting several months for him to return home to Coeur d'Alene from the military hospital in Texas. Gratefully this heroic soldier is expected to eventually make a full recovery.
We can show our appreciation for his service and sacrifice in a couple of tangible ways ... sending get well cards and letters to him in the hospital and/or making a contribution in his name at any Coeur d'Alene area Global Credit Union, a fund that will help ease the financial burden of his family. Mail to:
Sgt. Guerrero, Daniel
c/o San Antonio Military Medical Center
3551 Roger Brooke Drive
Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234
Post Falls dentist Dr. Erin Elliot attended a conference in Baltimore last week, with husband Tom joining her after so they could take a few days to tour our nation's capital. While waiting at Congressman Raul Labrador's offices, the Elliots noticed a man wearing a "Race the River" shirt, also waiting with his family. Turns out the family belonged to the North Idaho Spelling Bee champ, Tricia McCullough, taking a tour themselves after the National Scripps Spelling Bee. Small world.
Friday will be the last day on the job for Ginger Morrison after 17 years as the office manager of Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens. I've come to know Ginger through the years as I visited loved ones at the cemetery or attended Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. It's a unique job, dealing with families who grieve ... families who are traveling that road of loss and wanting those they're missing to be remembered and respected. Ginger did both. I'd like to let her know how much she has been appreciated for her service to the living and honoring the final resting place of those who've passed on.
It's graduation week for all of the high schools in Kootenai County and hundreds of young people are launching into adulthood. Commencement speeches will inspire and provoke thought. In thinking about what words of wisdom I'd pass along to the graduates the first thing that came to mind was that anyone who tells a teenager that high school is the best years of their life is lying or delusional. The better and best is out there to be discovered and experienced. I wasn't much for listening to advice at that age, preferring to blaze my own trails, make my own mistakes, learn and move forward. From the perspective of having lived 43 more years since my 18th year and looking back, there's not much I would change. Every misstep resulted in lessons learned and progress made. So here's my advice to the members of the Class of 2013 that will serve them well in life ... be nice.
Perfect weather for the opening of the new Lions Club Local Market on Thursday in the Post Falls City Hall courtyard from 4-7 p.m. Live bluegrass music and more than 30 vendors!
Happy birthday today to Evelyn Bevacqua, Harold Appleby, Jr., Joel Semanko, Helen Elder and JaNee Newby. Tomorrow the partiers will be DeDe Tondee, Don Wilhelm, Kim Normand and Wendy English. On Friday my better half and best friend Bert along with Brad Corkill, Rick Alden, Susan Lewis and John Hough are blowing out the candles. On Saturday wish Tammy Rickard, Courtney Everson, Dustin Pilcher, Argonne Dotts, Jaymie Starr, Emma Hoffman, Dave Haugen and Ted Pryor a happy birthday. Darrell Hull is Sunday's birthday boy and on Monday Chelsea Hough, Jared Mans, Taylor Gonzales, Lori Kaye Gaboury, Joan Crawford, Tanzi Hanson and Shannon Boston will be wearing their party hats. June 11 birthdays are shared by Kellie Palm, Eddie Bateman, Sandy Green, Gary Schneidmiller, Colin Evans, Tori Daily and Erna Rhinehart.
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. She was voted Best Local Writer for 2013 by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. Contact Kerri at [email protected] or find her on Facebook!