Last week, we lost one of our own…
For the better part of ten years, Mike had been gently encouraging his wife, Kelly, to train with us.
Somewhere along the way, in those ten years, Kelly had been diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy to try and remove the cancer from her body.
The cancer went into remission, and in the year of COVID (2020), Kelly found time in her schedule to get started with us.
One of the things that I knew about Mike and Kelly was that they were high school sweethearts.
They got married, had two beautiful kids, successful careers, and by my observation, as loving a marriage as you could ask to see.
Many of my readers know that Mike has remained my longest-standing client. We’ve been working together for nearly 16 years.
During that time, Mike adopted a vegan lifestyle and remained that way for roughly a decade.
Kelly, in an effort to make mealtime easier for both of them, adopted many of the same meals as well but she did keep some animal proteins in the mix.
A funny story I’ll always remember her by:
At one point, when she was here, she and Mike were about to go and celebrate an occasion together, and Kelly made a rare crack about Mike’s diet and asked: “What do you get a vegan for a special occasion? A fancy carrot?”
I wasn’t used to hearing Kelly with that level of sarcasm, and, no disrespect to my vegan friends, I laughed hysterically.
The thing to tell you about Kelly, among many things, is that she was one of the kindest, sweetest people you’d ever likely meet, and never did I hear her utter an unkind word about anyone.
She could come in from a stressful day at work, the gym would be hopping and she would walk right in, smile on her face and ask: “Ok, where do I start?“
A couple of years ago, the cancer returned and the initial prognosis was that she would have somewhere between sixteen and sixty months left.
They started treatments and she and Mike started working through their bucket list of trips to take and places to see with whatever time they had left to work with.
Kelly remained optimistic and strong about what she was faced with.
Mike and I had a good cry together in my office.
Late last year, Kelly was dealing with some chronic pain that she initially thought was unrelated to the cancer, and she decided to take a break from training.
About two months later, they discovered the cancer was spreading.
The better part of 2025 was spent with the family trying out different treatments, and Kelly not responding as favorably as they had hoped.
A few weeks ago, Mike gave me an update on her health and despite many ups-and-downs, it appeared the downs were more frequent, more severe.
I was fortunate to be invited to their home last Thursday to see Kelly, to give my love to her, to Mike, and their two kids, Rachel and Aaron.
She was awake, she was lucid, she was thankful I stopped by, and I told her we had a group of clients praying for their family.
She expressed her gratitude.
The rest of my visit, she rested, and Mike told me he wasn’t sure if they had three days or three weeks left.
Kelly passed around 5 a.m. the following morning.
I hate cancer.
I hate that I lost my father to it.
I hate that it exists, and I hate that Mike has lost his one true love to this horrible disease.
When I try to search for the silver lining, it’s the same thing many people say: at least she’s no longer in pain.
And it’s true, no one deserves to be in pain the way cancer sweeps in.
To Rachel and Aaron, I know what it’s like to lose a parent you love. I wish it on no one. I do hope you continue to carry the generosity of spirit and kindness that your mother brought to this world. She was one of a kind. I don’t say that lightly.
To Mike, there are no words I can tell you that will fill the void you live with. What I can tell you is that I love you, your RevFit family loves you, and we will continue to support you in this next chapter of your life.
To Kelly, thank you for several years of your hard work in the gym, for understanding what a strong body was capable of, for modeling a great marriage to all of us, for showering us with an undeniable smile and for being a part of the RevFit family.
As one of our clients reminded me, you were always a bright light when you came in.
We will miss you, keep shining.
