Before Deborah Finck died at age 57, she made a name for herself on social media by sharing her thoughts on life, family, love and the lessons she learned after five years of living with cancer. Her messages and musings resonated with over 800,000 followers between her TikTok and Instagram accounts.
Deborah — who once appeared on the reality series Nanny 911 — was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer, in March 2020. In the years that followed, she was constantly surrounded by her devoted family: her husband Paul and their three sets of twins — daughters Alex and Amanda, 29, daughter Katerina and son Steven, 24, and sons David and Daniel, 23.
It was Katerina who originally encouraged Deborah to start posting online near the end of her life. Since her death on Jan. 14, 2025, Katerina has continued creating social media content, with many of her videos paying homage to her mom.
This year marks the family’s first Mother’s Day without Deborah, and while she’s not physically present, Katerina tells PEOPLE they’ll be celebrating the way the late TikTok star would’ve wanted, with all six siblings together with their father. “She’s here in the way that we spend time with each other, talk about her and do things that we know would make her proud,” says Katerina.
In a heartfelt essay told to PEOPLE’s Zoey Lyttle, Katerina remembers her widely beloved mom and the precious moments they shared at the end of her life, both together and with their community of supporters online.
My mom was the type of person who made friends with everyone. She could talk to the wall and have a great time. We’d meet people in elevators, and she’d invite them over. I knew my mom would love sharing her life on social media, and at the end of her life, it did become a crucial outlet for her.
By the end of my mom’s cancer journey, the illness took away her ability to travel, bake and do so many things that she loved to do. She was sick and bored in the house, but making TikTok videos gave her something to do and more people to talk to.
Social media was also something we could do together. My mom and I have always been a good duo. I did modeling and acting when I was younger, and she was my cheerleader. I used to call her my “momager” back then. She always brought me where I needed to go and rooted for me the whole way there.
Plus, she loved being in front of the camera, always with a big smile. My mom also once wanted to get into acting and modeling, but she never saw it through. I think this — her viral fame on social media — was her moment of finally making that dream come true.
When I encouraged her to start sharing her story on TikTok in April 2024, I had about 130,000 followers as a dog-mom influencer. We’d already seen my growth online, and I knew her perspective had real potential to inspire the millions of people it ultimately did.
From day one of her diagnosis in 2020 through her eventual entry into hospice, my mom refused to accept that she would die of the leiomyosarcoma cancer they found in the pulmonary artery of her heart. She maintained her positivity throughout, even when things took an unprecedented turn for the worse last autumn.
I visited her regularly while she was sick, even though we were states away. My boyfriend and I live in Alabama, but I often traveled up to my parents’ home in Connecticut, where they raised my five siblings and me (we’re three sets of twins).
I spent a month up there in October 2024, which is when my mom started to get serious about posting on social media. She filmed herself being real, posting the truth and reality of her situation and sharing her will to live. She resonated with people going through challenges in their own lives and changed their perspective by sharing hers. Here was this sick woman reminding people how precious it all is and how much she would give for more time, saying, “Don’t be sad, always be happy, because life is really, really good.”
