A soothing morning turns into a haunting reminder of life’s fragility

15 October 2025

Missouri-based influencer and physical therapist Lizzie Kieffer recently shared an Instagram video shot just days before her 1-year-old daughter Lily’s sudden death, revealing a tranquil moment in her now-shattered family life and opening a window into how she is carrying grief with gratitude.

In the clip, Kieffer captured what appears to be an ordinary morning: she journaled, moved through some physical activity, and held her daughter Lily aloft while her older daughter Mia stirred awake. At the time she was 18 weeks pregnant with their third child, Isla. In the post’s caption she reflected on how simple and happy that day felt, and admitted she wishes she could return to it despite knowing she cannot.

Lily’s death on April 23 came after doctors found a large brain mass, a discovery that stunned the family because she had shown no outward signs of illness. Kieffer’s post does not shy away from the pain. She writes that even amid deep questioning and grief she has resolved to practice daily gratitude. That choice, she says, helps her find slivers of light in the dark.

Her caption admits the conflict of emotions: she misses every milestone Lily could have lived, yet she is glad that Isla is part of their present life now. She acknowledges she did not plan to write or share such words at that moment “my heart feels open and feels like it’s spilling these words” but decided to do so without overthinking.

She frames the video as a reminder not to take ordinary days for granted. She says “days like this aren’t promised,” and that owning that reality has reshaped how she values each breath, each smile, each small routine. Kieffer clarifies that she is not grateful for the tragedy itself that would be impossible but is grateful to have been Lily’s mom, grateful for moments they had, grateful for the new life she carries, and grateful for what remains.

In earlier posts surrounding Lily’s passing, she described the family’s profound heartbreak. In April, she and her husband Matt announced Lily’s death in an emotional statement, referring to it as “a nightmare we never could have ever imagined” and saying their hearts, bodies and souls ache for her. They shared that the large brain mass was only discovered after her death and that the cause remains a mystery pending further testing.

Kieffer’s content has long centered on health, motherhood, fitness, and women’s wellness. Her followers have seen her as a voice of reassurance, someone who teaches women about strength, body awareness, and joy in daily movement. The sudden tragedy reframes much of that work with weight, sorrow, and the search for meaning beyond the frame of aspirational wellness.

The video she shared now feels poignantly prescient. The sweet morning moment becomes both a memorial and a mirror showing what was lived, what was lost, and what she must carry forward. Grief, she implies, does not silence gratitude entirely; it complicates it, deepens it.

In the wake of her loss, Kieffer’s decision to share such raw reflections is itself a form of testimony. She allows followers a glimpse into how a mother grieves in real time: the pull of yearning, the tension of faith, the turn toward gratitude even as the heart is broken.

The story of Lily is short in years but vast in impact. In 374 days, she taught her family more than many could in many lifetimes, Kieffer has said. Now her memory is woven into the daily life of those left behind not as an ending but as part of their unfolding continuum.