Fortitude Fitness by Jen Kipphut

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Nearly 2 years since I went all in and I am thrilled to be a part of the competition again this year. With the support ...
08/09/2023

Nearly 2 years since I went all in and I am thrilled to be a part of the competition again this year. With the support of my day job and some amazing leaders in the FS consulting world I’ve raised $1500 for before stepping foot in the gym. If you’d like to know more about the competition, how to become a sponsor or how to make a personal contribution let me know.


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In the months after Chris died I was struggling. Trying to make life normal for the boys, starting a business, taking on...
06/29/2023

In the months after Chris died I was struggling. Trying to make life normal for the boys, starting a business, taking on all of life’s challenges alone, trying to grieve the ‘right way’ for everyone else, and wondering how I would manage it all with virtually no help in the day to day. By the end of the day my ability to parent was minimal. So most nights I would lay a blanket out on the floor and we would have a ‘living room picnic.’ Very early on friends would drop dinner off, other nights I would DoorDash and occasionally I would cobble a meal together. The boys would pick a show and we would sit on the floor. My memories of those nights are mostly the same… me silently crying while simultaneously laughing along to whatever silly cartoon they had picked. I was in survival mode.

Last night for their birthday the boys asked for a living room picnic. At one point my mind drifted back to those early days as a family of three - to how desperately I was clinging to the past while slowly inching forward. I felt so lost. The boys have no idea that this little tradition was born out of survival. And as I think about many of our and my favorite things I realize there is a common theme.

Those things that kept my head above water - living room picnics, long solo hikes, coffee on the back porch, travel and adventures, beach trips - just to name a few… have become some of my most treasured memories. In therapy this week my therapist asked if something made me feel connected to Chris… my immediate response was yes but after a moment I realized that it’s myself I feel most connected to. She’d probably deny it but I think my therapist teared up a little.

Don’t get it twisted… I still feel pretty lost most of the time but I know I have an anchor. It’s a blanket on the living room floor.

This is the year that the boys move from more years without their daddy than they had with them. The weight of that is h...
06/18/2023

This is the year that the boys move from more years without their daddy than they had with them. The weight of that is heavier than I can adequately explain. It’s something I think about daily, each day passing is another step towards the line, each milestone, like Father’s Day, is one more reminder of what cancer took from us. The boys deserve so much more than five years. And Chris had so much left to give them.

Learning to stand alone in pictures is part of being a widow. It sucks. I never know what to do with my hands. And then ...
06/07/2023

Learning to stand alone in pictures is part of being a widow. It sucks. I never know what to do with my hands. And then it’s weird to post the picture. I mean who posts a picture of themselves, standing alone in a 💣 dress at a gala with weird hands?!

I do.

For me. And for anyone else thinking its easier to hide or turn down the invitation. To stay home rather than risk feeling awkward or like you don’t belong.

Here’s the picture of me standing alone, in the 💣 dress, with the weird hands, belonging .

‘True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness.’

Did I just compare a black tie gala to the wilderness?! Sure did.

And pictures are ready just a metaphor for life. Where my hands are still awkward.


If our husbands didn’t have cancer we probably never would have met. you are an absolute gem of a human being and so mu...
06/04/2023

If our husbands didn’t have cancer we probably never would have met.

you are an absolute gem of a human being and so much more beautiful and radiant than you ever give yourself credit. Having you in my life makes me a better person - and I am certain I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Grief is funny - it takes with one hand and gives with the other. I lost the love of my life and yet gained the capacity to love so much more fully than I ever could before. It’s nuts.

And for those who don’t know is one of the reasons I remain honest and vulnerable on social media. You never know when your story will become someone else’s survival guide.

What a difference a year makes.Last night I kicked my heels up as a part of the crowd… and this may surprise you but I l...
06/04/2023

What a difference a year makes.

Last night I kicked my heels up as a part of the crowd… and this may surprise you but I loved it.

Congratulations to the 2023 Visionary of the Year - Allie Redder. And to the runner up - Nick Kammeyer. You both ran campaigns dedicated to amazing women and firmly rooted in the mission.

Collectively the Charlotte 2023 Visionary of the Year campaign raised $2,350,120.

What a privilege it is to live in this amazing community - Charlotte shows up year on year. My belief that a cure to blood cancer and survivor stories for everyone is well within my lifetime remains steadfast.

Thank you to everyone who donated this year, who listen to my story and lift me up on the regular.

It has been a full year since I wrapped up my 2022 Woman of the Year effort for At the end of the campaign, I had antic...
06/01/2023

It has been a full year since I wrapped up my 2022 Woman of the Year effort for At the end of the campaign, I had anticipated feeling a sense of accomplishment. After all I raised over half a million dollars in 10 weeks to go along with the $150k I had raised in the years prior to MWOY. Instead, I found myself a little lost... partially because that 10-week effort was a full-time job alongside my new full-time job at EY in addition to my full-time job as a mom.
With fundraising off my plate, you would think I’d have relished in regaining some time. However, I was constantly being pulled back to the LLS mission, to the mission has adopted as it's own - more survivor stories. So when I was asked to join the SLT for the 2023 Visionary of the Year campaign - I could hardly say no.

I have invested most of my efforts in mentoring this year's candidates; helping them to harness their own stories, sharing lessons learned and supporting them on their journeys. I am thrilled to see the total impact the 2023 VOY candidates will have this Saturday at the finale.

However, I also want to do my part to push the needle past our collective goal. So here I am back on the fundraising horse. No video this year, no major events, just an ask that if you feel called by our mission to create more survivor stories that you make a contribution.

In 2022, there were close to 2 million new cancer diagnosis in the US alone. If you are reading this, chances are you have been impacted by cancer at some point... blood cancer or otherwise. I won't get on my soapbox - but I will say this - I truly believe that a cure to all cancers is within reach and I also know that the research to find the cure will be funded through efforts like this. And that cure will mean no more widows and no more children growing up without their fathers.

Sometimes for a brief moment I forget about the weight of the world on my shoulders. And it’s always a bittersweet relie...
05/13/2023

Sometimes for a brief moment I forget about the weight of the world on my shoulders. And it’s always a bittersweet relief.

This Sunday will be the 17th Mother’s Day I will celebrate without my mom. She was diagnosed with HER2+ metastatic breas...
05/10/2023

This Sunday will be the 17th Mother’s Day I will celebrate without my mom. She was diagnosed with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer the week of my wedding in 2004. She died less than a year later. Within months of her death the FDA approved Herceptin - a medication that took survival rates for her cancer from less than 5% to over 90% after 5 years.

Research matters. The speed of research matters. The impact of research for many is the difference of life and death.

It’s been 5 years since Chris and I packed our bags a moved to Houston with my hearts and minds focused on a cure. 5 yea...
04/05/2023

It’s been 5 years since Chris and I packed our bags a moved to Houston with my hearts and minds focused on a cure. 5 years since we settled into an apartment over 1000 miles from our children and from the life we had planned on living. 5 years.

In a few short months Aiden and Riley will pass a threshold I’ve been dreading. They will have more years in their lives without their daddy than they had with him. 5 years.

Cancer is so cruel. So unforgiving. So relentless. And almost every day I am reminded that our story is just a page in this never ending book. 480 adults and children in America will learned they have blood cancer today alone.

And so despite saying I was taking a break from fundraising, despite the tremendous Woman of the Year campaign my team ran this time last year, despite the demands of work and being an only parent, despite all the jobs that remain unstarted around the home, despite the tears that endlessly fall as I think about the last 5 years…. I’m back at it.

Cancer is relentless but so am I.

This year I hope to raise $25k as part of the Senior Leadership Team for the 2023 Visionary of the Year campaign.

https://pages.lls.org/voy/nc/cltlls23/jkipphut

Never would have thought I’d start your birthday running with my boss at EY. Weird how life works out sometimes. That I ...
03/23/2023

Never would have thought I’d start your birthday running with my boss at EY. Weird how life works out sometimes. That I choose to run because it keeps me connected to you. That I work in your old world because it keeps our life as close to normal as it can be without you. That it’s been five years and I still feel a little panicked that I didn’t buy you a gift or plan a party to celebrate.

I wasn’t prepared for how I would feel about your birthday. Weird how grief sneaks up sometimes. That I would feel so suddenly lost and behind in life. That missing you would make me question so many things again. That it’s been five years and my heart hurts like it was yesterday.

I don’t know when it will get easier to live with grief or when it will stop sneaking up. A good friend suggested maybe it feels harder because I’m holding on to something. And they were right. Letting go doesn’t erase the life we had but it makes living the life I have now a little easier. So this year for your birthday I am giving myself permission to let go of what I’ve been holding on so tightly and I think you’d love this gift just as much as the year we watched the Pixies in the pouring rain and you declared it to be your best birthday ever.

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Charlotte, NC
28201-28237, 28240-28247, 28250, 28253-28256, 28258, 28260-28262, 28265-28266, 2

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