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KennyStrong, Knoxville, TN (2026)

11/28/2025

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! It was our first one without Kenny. The empty chair was excruciating. Grief and gratitude definitely walk hand in hand! 💔❤️

10/13/2025

Did you know?
-Esophageal cancer is one of the fastest growing and deadliest cancers in the United States and western world.
-Esophageal cancer also has NO routine screenings.
-Red flag warning symptoms typically appear once the cancer has become advanced and is more challenging to treat.
-Despite these facts, esophageal cancer receives little research funding.

Don't ignore the signs!

09/27/2025

This song was played at Kenny's service. It's called The Good Ones by Gabby Barrett
I sure was blessed to be loved by such a wonderful man. He, truly, was one of the good ones.

He's a phone call to his parents
He's a bible by the bed
He's the t-shirt that I'm wearing
He's a song stuck in my head
He's solid and he's steady like the Allegheny runs
He knows just where he's going
And he's proud of where he's from
… One of the good ones
He's one of the good ones
… A love me like he should one
Like he wrote the book one
The kind you find when you don't even look one
Anybody can be good once
But he's good all the time
He's one of the good ones
And he's all mine
He's one of the good ones
… You'll know him when you see him
By the way he looks at me
You'd say he hung the moon
I'd say he hung the galaxy
Nobody does it better
Oh the way he pulls me in
I've known a couple bad ones
But they all led me to him
He's one of the good ones
… A love me like he should one
Like he wrote the book one
The kind you find when you don't even look one
Anybody can be good once
But he's good all the time
He's one of the good ones
And he's all mine
He's one of the good ones
… We should all find us one
They're out there, minus one
Some of the good ones
Yeah, I got a good one
… A love me like he should one
Like he wrote the book one
The kind you find when you don't even look
Anybody can be good once
But he's good all the time
He's one of the good ones
And he's all mine
He's one of the good ones
And he's all mine

08/21/2025

I've had a really heavy feeling the last few days. Heavier than normal and I couldn't figure out why... Until I looked at the calendar. Today has been 200 days. I always know how many days it's been but I don't sit and dwell on it. I didn't know that day was around the corner but my body did. It's so weird how subconsciously those days are there whether you pay attention to them or not. I had the most amazing gift of Kenny! Everything that he was, every ounce of love he poured into me, every positive moment with him and now I've had to live without that love for a couple hundred days. I just don't know where to go from here anymore. I'm so tired of putting on a brave face. I'm so tired of hiding behind a mask. I miss my husband! I miss everything about him but mainly I just miss his presence and energy!

Day 200 of losing my love

07/17/2025

I shared this in my stories on my personal page. It's worth the watch!

06/17/2025

This is an excerpt from Kenny's service from Pastor Lindsay Mizell.

In the last few years, Kenny experienced a really sweet waking up and deepening of his faith. The man who loved science and space and all things Neil DeGrasse Tyson found the incomparable power of Christ within him. And when he received his diagnosis, he absolutely found hope in science–through treatment and the wide and wild brain of Dr. Shrock and Radiologists and Respiratory therapists. But what truly empowered that hope was his belief in the incomparable power of Christ within him. Many of you, like me, visited Kenny in the hospital in the last few months.
BTW-If you’ve ever wondered how an extrovert survives in the hospital, please consult the one billion pictures on the Kennystrong page. It looked like a nightmare if you’re an introvert but for Kenny it was more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! Several of us had a similar experience where when we walked in the door we did what southern people do and we just started chatting and catching up. Kenny would look over and say “Well are you going to pray?!?!” And I was like–Oh! Yes! I, actually, get paid to do that. Yes, I'll pray with you. One time Jill had to step out to take a call and he asked if I was going to pray. I said "Oh sorry I was going to wait for Jill and he said “You can pray twice!” Verse 13: We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. Kenny said what he believed in his desire for his hospital room to be filled with prayer and with people. He said what he believed to Camden who wanted to make sure that he and his Pa believed the same thing. We would pray and even when his mouth was covered with the big oxygen mask and he couldn’t speak, he would cry…his tears, his body saying what he believed when his mouth couldn’t. More and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! Another experience several of us shared in the hospital toward the end of his life, is that when Jill would leave the room, he’d give us a list of things he hoped for. Make sure Jill has fun. Don’t let her spiral She can be sad, but she isn’t allowed to stay there forever. Make sure she travels... Except not to Jamaica because that was what we were supposed to do. So she can’t go to Jamaica, but she can go anywhere else. This is so meaningful to me, because in life and in death, Kenny wanted the people he loved to be ok. He wanted them to be loved and cared for and nurtured.
He wanted them not just to live–but to flourish, to laugh, to experience, to have fun. It is such an honorable way to live and an even more honorable way to die. Caring very much for the joy of the people you loved. That is a good and holy thing!

It was such a beautiful service

Day 136 of losing my love

05/26/2025

This was at Blount County's Memorial Day program. They read the names of the veterans that passed away in the last year. It was very emotional but it was a beautiful service.

Rest easy, Marine. Semper Fi!

Day 114 of losing my love

05/23/2025

Kenny was extremely proud of his service in the military 🪖 He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1984-1988. His name will be read at Blount County's Memorial Day program tomorrow morning.

The VA has determined that Kenny's death was, at least 50%, if not more a result of the Camp Lejeune toxic water. We knew this was probably the case before he died. Even though Veteran's Affairs has been really good to us, I was so angry about this. Kenny being who he is said, "Jill, I signed up to serve my country. I knew that I could die for my country when I signed up. I just got an extra 37 years that those that died in combat didn't get. I'm thankful for those years." Who thinks like that? Kenny does! He's the epitome of valor, strength and commitment. I strive to have his grateful heart ❤️

Pictures about the Memorial program and Kenny's time as a Marine but as he said "Once a Marine, always a Marine."

Day 111 of losing my love

05/17/2025

Sweet story about Kenny for anyone not on our personal pages . I usually work at New York orientations in the summer for incoming exchange students. Kenny decided he wanted to help one year. Let me preface this by saying that orientations are exhausting. You spend hours at the airport, you have to get up at 2am to take kids to the airport to fly to their host families and you walk several miles a day. Long days with very little sleep. It's all worth it because you get to see New York and you get to see the excitement in the student's faces but it is tiring. We always have a group chat with the chaperones. Kenny sends this picture from the airport in the group chat and it says, "I'm living my best life ever. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this". He said ALL THE TIME that he's living his best life ever. He was so thankful for everything, no matter how small. I strive to be more like him.

Day 105 of losing my love

05/11/2025

This is a letter that was read at Kenny's service from our neighbor, Tonia.

Jill and Kenny are my neighbors. I'm a widow, my husband passed away almost three years ago.
I felt led to place a Blessing Box in our Springbrook Community on Ramsay street. I had the Blessing Box, but no one to put it up for me. I noticed that Kenny had put together a whole shed at their house, so I asked Jill , do you think Kenny would be willing to put up the blessing Box?" He came over and accessed the project. It ended up being more work and taking longer than expected but it was PERFECT, he reminded me so much of my Darrell's work. Everything was measured a few times and lined up beautifully..
Our Blessing Box stays busy and serves so many people. I'm thankful I got to know Kenny better.

Tonia Priddy

I have such special memories of Kenny. Sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they bring a smile to my face, sometimes they make my eyes leak and sometimes they make me cry uncontrollably screaming at him, at God, I'm sure my neighbors have heard. What I wouldn't give to have one of our talks again. You often take for granted everyday life things.... Eating dinner, watching TV (Kenny always asked questions while we were watching TV), kissing each other good morning or good night, pillow talk, checking on each other throughout the day and him always giving me his ETA of being home. The fact that he's no longer here will always cause me pain but he holds the pieces to my heart so I'm hopeful that one day the pain becomes something I carry with the joy that he brought me. That they will go hand in hand. Right now, it's just unbearable pain. He was my person and brought me oh so much joy and will forever be in my heart!

Here's some photos of him building the blessing box. Tonia has dedicated it to her late husband, Darrell and to Kenny. If you feel led to donate some non perishables, the address is 1810 Ramsay St. Alcoa, TN. It gets a lot of traffic.

Day 99 of losing my love

05/07/2025

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate Kenny on his first heavenly birthday and to show your support. We had over 80 people come and share stories, some I had never heard. He would have absolutely loved all the attention. Kenny's death is sad, painful and excruciating but his life was anything but that. He was filled with love, life and laughter wherever he went. We miss you so so much! We all love you!

04/30/2025

Does anyone have Co****le boards, horseshoe rings, volleyball, badminton, any outdoor games that I can borrow for Sunday's celebration for Kenny?

KennyStrong

11/28/2025

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