**This post includes information that may be triggering/upsetting to some**
Hello Fitness Blender Family,
As some of you may have noticed, Daniel and I have been a bit quiet recently. For those of you who have been around a long time, you might know that we are somewhat private people and don’t share a lot about our personal lives. We are currently dealing with a personal matter, however, we felt we needed to share this as it involves someone that many of you have loved and enjoyed as well.
About a month ago, our dog Loki was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer). For anyone who has experienced this with their own dog, you know that this is currently an incurable form of cancer that is very aggressive. We’re not sure how much time we have left with him but it is most likely not much (a handful of weeks or months at best). Because of this, we have decided to step away from work for a little while, to make the best of every good day we have left with him.
Loki has been such a fantastic friend and such a huge part of our family (and Fitness Blender) for the last 12 years, that we can’t imagine life without him. It is going to be an immense loss, but we would do it all over in a heartbeat as he has brought us so much joy. Loki has been just out of frame or at our feet for every video Daniel and I have ever filmed and edited, every program we created or article we have written and every business meeting, so in a sense Loki has very much been a part of every aspect of Fitness Blender.
I know that many of you find him really cute in pictures (and the occasional video cameo) but the truth is that Loki’s personality is so much more endearing, lovable, and pleasant in person. He is kind hearted, energetic, always excited about life. He is so funny, and so smart. A gentle giant. He always seems to be intuitive to how we’re feeling, and tries his best to check on us and cheer us up if he thinks we're sad or stressed. He is quirky, and particular, and friendly. He is very expressive, communicative and has a large vocabulary of words and sentences that he understands. He loves long walks, and sleeping in late. He’ll be as lazy or as energetic as we are at any given moment - as long as we’re together he’s content. He is highly food motivated and can hear a cheese stick being unwrapped from any room in the house. He is beautiful. He is strong, agile, and fast like an athlete, even to this day - though in shorter bursts now, in his old age and medical condition. He is totally unaware of his size (at 95 pounds) and no lap is too small for an attempted sitdown. He has a ton of extra skin (seemingly a whole extra dog’s worth), and his fur is really soft. He’s so comforting to hug. I could go on and on. He has been nothing but love and joy in our lives. Loki joined our family right as we left our day jobs to work from home for Fitness Blender full time. He has been our shadow for almost 12 years, the three of us are nearly inseparable.
We know that other people may feel this loss, too. People that have never even had the pleasure of meeting Loki (or vice versa), but who have watched him grow from an energetic, oversized pup, all the way to a kind, wise old man. I wish that Loki could conceptualize and feel the way that people have loved him from a distance, and enjoyed him over the years. Thank you for letting us share him with you.
We don’t have any kind of timelines for what’s happening, but FB will be operating as usual and Daniel and I even have some workouts and content saved up that will be released in this time period. But for now, what we’re doing now is putting him first, putting our time together first. Then eventually, putting our own healing first. We both feel incredibly fortunate and acutely aware of the privilege that it is, to be able to take time away from work for a loved one like this.
Thank you for being a kind, easy space to share this sort of news. And thank you for your patience while we spend some precious time with our best friend. He has always tried to take care of us and now it is our turn to take care of him and make his last days worthy of such a faithful friend and companion.
Where are Kelli and Daniel? An Update
**This post includes information that may be triggering/upsetting to some**
Hello Fitness Blender Family,
As some of you may have noticed, Daniel and I have been a bit quiet recently. For those of you who have been around a long time, you might know that we are somewhat private people and don’t share a lot about our personal lives. We are currently dealing with a personal matter, however, we felt we needed to share this as it involves someone that many of you have loved and enjoyed as well.
About a month ago, our dog Loki was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer). For anyone who has experienced this with their own dog, you know that this is currently an incurable form of cancer that is very aggressive. We’re not sure how much time we have left with him but it is most likely not much (a handful of weeks or months at best). Because of this, we have decided to step away from work for a little while, to make the best of every good day we have left with him.
Loki has been such a fantastic friend and such a huge part of our family (and Fitness Blender) for the last 12 years, that we can’t imagine life without him. It is going to be an immense loss, but we would do it all over in a heartbeat as he has brought us so much joy. Loki has been just out of frame or at our feet for every video Daniel and I have ever filmed and edited, every program we created or article we have written and every business meeting, so in a sense Loki has very much been a part of every aspect of Fitness Blender.
I know that many of you find him really cute in pictures (and the occasional video cameo) but the truth is that Loki’s personality is so much more endearing, lovable, and pleasant in person. He is kind hearted, energetic, always excited about life. He is so funny, and so smart. A gentle giant. He always seems to be intuitive to how we’re feeling, and tries his best to check on us and cheer us up if he thinks we're sad or stressed. He is quirky, and particular, and friendly. He is very expressive, communicative and has a large vocabulary of words and sentences that he understands. He loves long walks, and sleeping in late. He’ll be as lazy or as energetic as we are at any given moment - as long as we’re together he’s content. He is highly food motivated and can hear a cheese stick being unwrapped from any room in the house. He is beautiful. He is strong, agile, and fast like an athlete, even to this day - though in shorter bursts now, in his old age and medical condition. He is totally unaware of his size (at 95 pounds) and no lap is too small for an attempted sitdown. He has a ton of extra skin (seemingly a whole extra dog’s worth), and his fur is really soft. He’s so comforting to hug. I could go on and on. He has been nothing but love and joy in our lives. Loki joined our family right as we left our day jobs to work from home for Fitness Blender full time. He has been our shadow for almost 12 years, the three of us are nearly inseparable.
We know that other people may feel this loss, too. People that have never even had the pleasure of meeting Loki (or vice versa), but who have watched him grow from an energetic, oversized pup, all the way to a kind, wise old man. I wish that Loki could conceptualize and feel the way that people have loved him from a distance, and enjoyed him over the years. Thank you for letting us share him with you.
We don’t have any kind of timelines for what’s happening, but FB will be operating as usual and Daniel and I even have some workouts and content saved up that will be released in this time period. But for now, what we’re doing now is putting him first, putting our time together first. Then eventually, putting our own healing first. We both feel incredibly fortunate and acutely aware of the privilege that it is, to be able to take time away from work for a loved one like this.
Thank you for being a kind, easy space to share this sort of news. And thank you for your patience while we spend some precious time with our best friend. He has always tried to take care of us and now it is our turn to take care of him and make his last days worthy of such a faithful friend and companion.
Sincerely,
Kelli, Daniel and Loki
PS Extra Loki pictures in the comments 💙