Baby steps in the battle of steps

In December, Bert and I bought fitness watches. I know a lot of people who’ve been on the steps bandwagon for years. For us, we hope to be more intentional about our activity with the bonus of knowing heart rate, blood pressure, sleep patterns and such.

What we hadn’t anticipated was our competitiveness. Now we routinely compare the number of steps we’ve each achieved at the end of the day. After a couple of months, my still-working husband is the reigning champion. As a semi-retired work-from-home writer whose day doesn’t stray far from my keyboard and phone in these cold winter months, I’m at a disadvantage. A walk around the neighborhood conjures visions of a slip and fall resulting in a broken bone, which is terrifying at this time of life. I traveled in late January to the land of sunshine, including walking through airports and still didn’t win.

Late last week and over the weekend, I saw my chance to best him. He was under the weather, even to the point of missing a couple days of work and staying in bed. I know it sounds mean to take advantage of a sick guy just to win the battle of the steps but what can I say. I was shamelessly euphoric to beat him by a couple of steps a few of those days.

Bert’s watch congratulates him routinely on his steps and activities. Mine has been pretty uncommunicative until Sunday. I received a congratulations notification, with an exclamation point! My achievement? High Quality Sleep, which is about as exciting as receiving a participation trophy. Baby steps.

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On Jan. 29, Press columnist Dave Oliveria had a blurb in Huckleberries from the 1995 Coeur d’Alene Press files about Mary Jo Friesz. She was pictured with a big pot of what she called Quarterback Stew, with the recipe and the backstory of the dish. Mary Jo’s son, John Friesz, at that time, was an NFL quarterback playing for the Seattle Seahawks. John is a Coeur d’Alene grad, who was recruited out of the University of Idaho and went on to play professionally from 1990 through 2000 with the Chargers, Redskins, Seahawks and Patriots.

He loved his mom’s stew so much that the family named it in his honor.

Fast forward thirty years to 2025 ... Mary Jo is now living at Hayden Place Assisted Living where their chef, Julie Ekness Bjornson, happened upon Oliveria’s column. As a surprise, she cooked a pot of Mary Jo’s Quarterback Stew on Super Bowl Sunday. The most thoughtful gesture was appreciated by Mary Jo's family visiting that day, including her husband, Mel, daughter Lori Friesz Cogley, granddaughter Melissa Cogley and of course, her son, John.

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My first Valentine was my dad, and throughout his life, he never failed to give a card or candy to his daughters. It’s fun to receive candy and flowers and enjoy a nice dinner out but I’ve come to really value being loved 365 days out of the year. On Valentine's Day 1986, Bert arrived in Idaho from North Dakota to take a giant leap of faith to marry me and my three daughters a month later. He left his family and lifelong friends to make a life and a home here where I had family and lifelong friends. That’s love.

For 39 years, Valentine’s Day has held a special meaning for us. Celebrate love however it appears in your life. Celebrate today and every day if you’re blessed to be loved. 

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Happy Main Street birthdays today to Kim Edmondson, Elizabeth Glidden, Faith Valente and Laura Wilson. Tomorrow Rachel Fehling, Sam Crawford, Ron Vieselmeyer, Jim Prussack, Sherry Adkins, Ken Martin and Toby Flood will celebrate. Valentine's Day birthdays for LaDonna Beaumont, Joe Doellefeld, Jason Hayes, Tripp Rogers, Jan McDaniels, Susan DuBois, Sarah Hansen, David Lunceford, Jean Bledsoe, Mike Shepperd, Kaelyn Bingham and Sarah Schell. On Saturday, Joe Doellefeld, Mindy Hatcher, Tracy Dickinson, Jeff Conroy, Linda Jagars, Craig Smith, Art Sullivan, Sandi Hall and Donna Montgomery blow out the birthday candles. Dan Green, Stephanie Smith, Tom Thompson, Diana Farquhar, Adam Averill, Morgan Dickinson, Bruce English, Quinn Kennedy and Jim Wilson will celebrate Sunday. Starting the work with with Monday birthdays are Mike Kennedy, Dorene Russell, Dewey Berndt, Helen Pischner, Lisa Ortize, Steve Mills, Chuck Ethridge and Leslie Anne Spencer. On Tuesday, McKinley Thomson, Jill Monroe, Steve Shepperd, Susie Bingham, Pershia Moser, Abbie Nowland and Diana Raugust take a spin on the birthday-go-round.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email thoreson.kerri@gmail.com.