On her way home from buying diapers at Target, Lauren Tripp recorded a TikTok about getting her husband to a Penn State game. Josh Tripp had picked the date. They didn’t have tickets or a parking pass.

Lauren figured she would post the video and see what happened.

She expected it might take a few tries to reach people. Instead, the first video took off, and Penn State fans began offering their seats.

“If Penn State doesn’t hook you up, we’ll hook you up,” Lauren recalled people telling her.

As the messages arrived, she read them to Josh. After months of brain cancer treatment, a return to Beaver Stadium was beginning to feel possible.

“It meant a lot to him,” she said.

Josh grew up a Penn State fan, with family connections to Renovo, Pennsylvania, and Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. His brother, Shane, attended the university and played in the Blue Band.

When Lauren married Josh, she joined the blue-and-white tradition.

Before his diagnosis, the couple had attended several games together, including a White Out. But about three months into their marriage, a phone call interrupted their plans.

Josh, who played football at Bloomsburg, participated in a concussion research study. According to Lauren, he traveled to Indiana for testing, including an MRI.

Two days after he returned home, the couple were sitting down for dinner when a doctor called about his scans. Something needed immediate attention. The doctors told Josh to go to the emergency room.

Further testing revealed a brain tumor. At first, Lauren said doctors believed they could remove it quickly. A later appointment brought different news. The tumor was in a dangerous location, and Josh underwent a nine-hour craniotomy, remaining awake and answering questions so doctors could monitor his responses.

At an oncology appointment afterward, Lauren said the couple learned he had glioblastoma. Radiation and chemotherapy followed. The couple canceled their honeymoon to Scotland and Ireland because traveling that far so soon after brain surgery wasn’t feasible.

Josh’s everyday life changed, too. On his doctor’s advice, he retired from his job at a state prison, where Lauren continued to work.

“I wanted to plan these trips and have something to look forward to,” Lauren said.

With medical expenses and one income, she wasn’t sure how they would afford them. She decided to give TikTok a try.

For an anniversary trip to Wyoming, a woman in Canada offered airline credits she couldn’t use. Other people donated money and a hotel company helped with accommodations for a trip to Boston.

Eventually, Lauren began working on getting Josh back to Penn State. He had been hesitant about attending while wearing his Optune Gio treatment device. Lauren said the prospect felt difficult and Josh was discouraged about returning.

When she asked which game he wanted to attend, he chose a date that worked for them. Lauren and Josh remained hopeful it would be the White Out.

After the TikTok went viral, Penn State fans offered to help.

“It was exciting for the whole family,” Lauren said.

A Penn State seating representative eventually saw the TikTok, reached out, and arranged tickets and a parking pass, Lauren said. The representative also asked whether Josh needed additional accommodations and stopped by on game day to introduce herself.

The couple arrived in the afternoon with Josh’s parents. They set up their tailgate, walked around, and spent time together before entering the stadium.

Inside, they enjoyed the Blue Band and a section of fans who stood and cheered throughout the night.

Lauren noticed a change in Josh’s energy as soon as they arrived.

“He just loves Penn State, loves the game, loves football,” she said.

Since leaving his job, Josh has become a volunteer football coach at the high school where he played. He coaches tight ends, and Lauren recalled him celebrating a touchdown by Andrew Rappleyea during the game with a shout of “That’s a tight end, baby!”

They stayed until the end. Despite Penn State’s loss, Lauren remembered him smiling from their arrival to their departure.

The family’s next planned trip is an Alaska cruise. Josh has never been on one, and their infant son, Charlie, and both sets of parents plan to join them. Lauren hopes earnings from TikTok will help.

Throughout the diagnosis and treatment, she said their faith has remained central to their lives.

“God has provided for us in a lot of ways,” Lauren said.

When asked about what she wanted Penn State fans to know, she returned to the people who offered their own tickets before the couple had any arrangements.

“I think as a community, just continuing to be kind like that, being kind and generous, means a lot to people,” she said.

The weekend included a smaller moment that didn’t make it into her videos.

Charlie had stayed home with a babysitter. Before the game, Josh wanted to stop at a store to buy him a stuffed animal. Being a dad, Lauren said, was his favorite thing.

“Even when he’s just apart from Charlie, our son, just for a little bit, he’s always on his mind,” she said.

They had made it back to Beaver Stadium. Josh had a game to cheer for and an afternoon with his family. And back home, Charlie had a stuffed animal waiting for him.

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