Jill Smokler’s brother, Matt Epstein, has applauded his sister for her honesty about motherhood in an emotional tribute after the blogger died Monday at age 49.
The mother of three died more than two years after she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The news was announced on Smokler’s popular Scary Mommy blog, where she posted her honest, unfiltered takes about parenting and marriage.
Epstein also confirmed his sister’s death Monday in an emotional statement to Today, saying: “Jill spent her life telling the truth about motherhood — that it could be wonderful and impossible in the very same breath — and in doing so, she gave millions of women permission to stop pretending and feel a little less alone.
“She was funny, fearless, generous, and entirely herself. More than anything she built, Jill was proudest of her three children, Lily, Ben, and Evan. We are heartbroken to lose her, and endlessly proud of the mark she left on the world.”
In the Monday post on Scary Mommy, Stokler was celebrated for creating a safe space for fellow mothers, where they could read about both “the joys and the pitfalls of parenting.”
“She said the things we weren’t supposed to say out loud, and because she said them first, millions of women finally felt allowed to say them too,” the post reads. “Before Jill, too many of us mothered in a vacuum: alone, unsure, and more than a little pissed off. She built a place where that no longer had to be true. Here, laughter, self-deprecation, and unwavering truth-telling are the norm. And that’s because of Jill’s vision for a place where moms could feel validated and seen.”
Smokler started her parenting and lifestyle website in March 2008, when she was a stay-at-home parent raising her three children, who were all under the age of four. “Here goes. Day One,” the blogger, who shared her kids with ex-husband Jeff, wrote in her first-ever post. Since then, Scary Mommy has become one of the largest parenting platforms and digital communities for mothers worldwide.
The beloved blogger shared her diagnosis on Instagram two years ago, writing: “Glioblastoma was not on my 2024 bingo card, alas here we are friends.”
More to follow
