Happy Trails

Jim and Lori Gaddis found health—and true love—during thirty-three-year walking streak

As rain was falling on September 14, 1987, Jim Gaddis caught sight of an attractive woman carrying an umbrella. The pair were walking in opposite directions on a popular bike path in their hometown of Rockford, Illinois. Getting increasingly soaked, Jim asked Lori if she might be willing to share her umbrella.

One month later, they were engaged; ten weeks later, they married. Thirty-three years later (and with a blended family that now boasts five children, twelve grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren), only Jim’s heart procedure and Lori’s broken ankle have interrupted their streak of daily strolls. Best of all, walking has helped both keep their weight—once 234 pounds for Jim, who stands five feet four inches, and 214 pounds for Lori, five feet three inches—well under control.

To those who spend any amount of time on the four-mile loop between Bloomington Park and SunRiver in St. George, Utah, the Gaddises are familiar figures. At 11:00 a.m. during the winter months (hours earlier when the weather heats up), the duo sets out from their SunRiver home. Sporting the Fitbits supplied by their healthcare provider, they keep track of steps taken, calories burned, minutes per mile, and other minutiae.

The round-trip trek occasionally consumes more time than might be expected, admitted Lori, a trim, vivacious 76-year-old. “Jim just loves to talk,” she said, laughing. “If the devil himself was walking beside us, Jim would strike up a conversation with him. So sometimes it takes a few hours to do our four miles.”

Her mate’s jovial nature is the legacy of a long career spent managing assisted living facilities. Now retired at 73, Jim is still quick with a smile and a friendly word for everyone he encounters. “We used to have a big sign on the wall at one of the nursing homes that said ‘Old age isn’t for sissies,’” he said. “That’s so true! You get out of life what you put into it.”

The Gaddis pair put in plenty of miles in Illinois prior to their 2012 move to St. George. Back then, frigid temperatures in the winter meant they often stayed indoors and did treadmill workouts—especially after Lori slipped on an icy patch and fractured her ankle in 1995. As soon as the doctor gave her the go-ahead, she was walking again. Jim was down briefly following a heart ablation, but since their move to Utah, the two haven’t missed a day on foot.

“We’ve been incredibly lucky with our health,” Jim said. “Our doctors love the fact that we keep track of what we eat, how many hours we sleep, how many calories we’re burning...and especially that we only see them for our annual physicals! Lori and I will keep walking as long as we’re able.”

According to their Fitbits, Lori logs approximately twelve thousand steps daily, while Jim’s count is closer to sixteen thousand steps. That’s more than four million steps annually for her and over five million for him. Surely there must be days when they’re just not feeling like hitting the trail. “Yes, that happens once in a great while,” Jim confirmed. “And when one of us says we don’t want to go, the other will say, ‘OK, you get ten minutes on the pity-potty, then get moving.’ Neither of us has ever, in all of these years, stayed home because we just didn’t feel like walking.”

Added Lori, “We always feel so much better when we get back from our walk. And then the person who didn’t want to go will say, ‘What was I thinking?’ At our age, we need something fun in our lives. When we’re out there, we laugh and goof around, we talk to people, and we look at the rabbits and birds and cows and horses. We just make it a fun event.”

As the pair described their mutual exercise addiction, it was obvious that the love they discovered on that trail more than three decades ago hasn’t…well, lost a step. When asked what first attracted him to Lori, Jim was quick to reply. “She has the cutest dimples, and it struck me that she was—and is—really beautiful,” he said.

“His eyes are fading as he gets older,” Lori asserted, patting her husband’s cheek. Then smiling, she recalled an anecdote that summed up the pair’s connection. Because they fell in love and decided to get married so quickly, Lori’s pastor asked that they take a compatibility test. If they passed, he promised he would bless the marriage.

“He put us in separate rooms, and we answered the questions. And when he looked at our answers, he said, ‘If I didn’t know you were in separate rooms, I’d have sworn you two cheated on this; I’ve never seen two people who are better suited for each other.’ And it’s been that way for thirty-three years. Sometimes you just get lucky.”

For those just beginning a walking program, the Gaddises recommend starting with a halfmile and building up endurance from there. “When I weighed 214 pounds, I could barely walk a mile; I was so winded,” Lori recalled. “But if you build up slowly, you’ll get there… and then you’ll get a huge rush when you’re able to do the miles.”

“If you don’t use it, you’re gonna lose it,” Jim finished. “There’s no question; Lori and I will be walking up to the pearly gates together.”

About the Author

Marianne L. Hamilton is a veteran journalist and marketing writer whose work appears in regional and national publications. When not race walking, hiking, or teaching water aerobics, she is Board Chair of Art Around the Corner and the Special Events Manager for DOCUTAH. She and her husband, Doug, are also co-administrators of the St. George Wine Club and race directors for the Huntsman World Senior Games and National Senior Games. Marianne was crowned Ms. Senior Italy Universe 2019–2020 and the Senior Pageants Group’s 2020–2021 Senior Games Ambassador. She is a proud breast cancer survivor.