Pennsylvania family turns grief into laughter, honoring dad with viral videos and podcast

Ahead of Father's Day weekend, a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, family is using their online platform to honor their loved one while inspiring others who have also experienced loss. 

Whether it's their viral videos of visits to the cemetery or the launch of their new podcast, the Rosenthals have kept Mark Rosenthal's memory alive through humor with every post.

"I believe life is a gift. Mark's gift is over, but I have mine," Robin Rosenthal said.   

Robin and her two children, Sam and Emma, lost their father and husband, Mark, from a heart attack in 2010. Sam was 17 years old at the time and in his first few months of college, while Emma was 14 years old. 

"I ran in and he was on the floor of the bathroom," Robin said. "How did I get through this? I don't know, but we can. We can get through these things."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam got the idea to start uploading short-form videos to TikTok.

"Sam said to me, 'Mom, I'm going to make you famous,'" Robin said.   

The videos instantly took off with Robin in front of the camera.  

"I think it was like the third one that got traction," Sam said. "It was like, right away."

One of their most viewed videos captures the family having a picnic at the cemetery Mark's buried at on Father's Day a couple years back.

"I'm in this old tie-dye T-shirt and we're having a picnic." Robin said. "Sam asks, 'Where's Dad?' And I say, 'Down there, in the ground.' And I just take a French fry and say, 'Here Mark, have a fry.' And that just went viral."

Those viral moments have now led to a full-time family business led by Emma, who handles the majority of the day-to-day operations.

"The three of us really work well together," Emma said.

The Rosenthals have amassed nearly 3 million followers with Robin's wit and authentic family outtakes.

Each video is healing their grief with a laugh and it's resonating with others. The family recently won a Webby Award for Social Impact, an international award honoring excellence on the internet.

"To know that we won the people's vote is the coolest thing in the world and to do it alongside of these two is even better," Emma said. 

Their message is now expanding with the launch of a new podcast called "Laughs After Loss."

"It makes me continue to want to do this because people get such joy out of my craziness," Robin said.

"We're going to talk about grief in all sorts of areas of life and learning to find joy after that and laughing," Emma said.   

This year the Rosenthals will continue their Father's Day tradition and hold an annual picnic at Mark's gravesite together. 

"Now, we love Father's Day," Robin said. We feel that it's ours too even though he's gone."