Robin Rosenthal, 71, of Huntingdon Valley, was featured yesterday by The Philadelphia Inquirer in an article titled “The Philly family whose unusual Father’s Day tradition taught 26 million people to laugh through grief“.

According to the story, the Rosenthal family—which includes kids Sam, 32, and Emma, 29—visit husband/dad Mark Rosenthal’s grave in Shalom Memorial Park every year on Father’s Day, anniversaries, and other special occasions since his 2010 passing from a sudden heart attack. He was 60 years old.

The tradition has evolved into “a pool party with a beach ball, floaties, and a kiddie pool”. Their “offbeat and funny approach to grief” has made them go viral on TikTok with 1.7 million followers and about 800,000 more on Instagram.

An excerpt from the article:

Sam had long believed his mom had a great personality for TikTok. He and Emma were both aspiring stand-up comics, and Emma got a master’s in comedy screenwriting in Chicago. But when they first pitched the idea of filming daily family antics for social media, Robin was self-conscious and reluctant to appear on camera.

After some encouragement (and more jokes), she eased up and began enjoying the fun activities with her kids. Now, “the internet’s mom” is practically a local celebrity — and she loves the spotlight.

Samples of the family’s Tiktok videos are below:

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Screengrabs: Tiktok