How these sisters went viral with funny confessional videos to their late mom
Two sisters have gone viral on TikTok after posting "confession" videos sharing some of the mishaps that have taken place in their lives since their mom's death last year.
Sara Wollner, 30, and Katie Riggins, 33, of Albany, New York, told "Good Morning America" that they decided to use humor to get candid about their experience losing their mom to pancreatic cancer in July 2022.
Riggins said her mom Karen raised her and her two sisters -- Wollner and Megan Dixon, 35 -- as a single parent after their dad died when they were kids, teaching them to "be independent, and to just live life for ourselves."
"Our motto growing up was, 'We are women, hear us roar,'" she said. "And anything that our mom wanted us to do, she always made sure that we knew that we could do it."
Riggins said her mom was loved by many, including all of their friends growing up, who nicknamed her "Mama Riggins."
"Her name was Karen; we called her Kare for short, sometimes 'Crazy Kare,'" she added with a laugh, describing her mom as "probably just the most positive, warm, family-oriented, loving woman."
Pancreatic cancer represents around 3% of new cases of cancer in the United States, but around 8% of cancer deaths, according to the National Cancer Institute, which estimates more than 50,000 Americans have died from the disease in 2023 alone.
To mark Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November, Wollner and Riggins posted a video on TikTok on Nov. 3 to honor their late mom, sharing things that had gone wrong in their lives since her death, accompanied by the contagious sound of laughter.
"No. 1, we didn't know that we had to file your taxes," Wollner says in the video, which has since garnered over 24 million views.
After a bout of hysterical laughter, Riggins later says, "I tried to do a charity walk for cancer and I couldn't finish it because I think I broke my foot."
Concluding the video, the sisters say, "More to come. We will continue to disappoint you as time goes on. We are sorry."
Inspired by the post, other users began to flock to the comments section, opening up about how the sisters' confessions had helped them process their own grief.
"My mom died in April. Thank you, I needed this laugh. 😅 (Note to self: file her taxes next year ✍🏻)," one user wrote.
"This is the BEST healing! 🥰😂 my sis and I tried to spread mom's ashes in a blizzard, we ended up wearing her!🤣," commented another.
Wollner told "GMA" that she created her TikTok account with the hope of connecting with others "walking a similar journey." When the idea to do the confessional video came to mind, she shared it with Riggins before the two brought it to the public.
"I had this vision, and Katie is a good sport and it came to life," Wollner said. "It really resonated with people. And it just -- it hit."
The sisters have since uploaded a few other confessional videos, one of which also featured their older sister Dixon, who they said was "the most sought after" by their TikTok followers.
"She solves all of our problems," Riggins said. "Some of the comments are like, 'We need a Mama Megan hotline.'"
Going through their healing journey while inspiring others
Wollner said the responses she and her sister received after posting their initial video were "overwhelming."
"You'll see there's a thread of just relatability … then the individual messages, people have really opened up personally about their own losses," she explained. "So the messages have been amazing. I'm just like out here trying to make a quick laugh and tell our story."
As for their own healing journey, Wollner said she and her sisters will occasionally "look for signs" of their late mother to comfort themselves.
"She was a lover of anything, like, antique or flowers -- anything that had to do with like farming. She loved cows," Wollner said, adding, "So, if I'm feeling some kind of like sadness, I kid you not, I'll be somewhere and there'll be something that comes across my phone where the picture in the article is a cow. There's comfort in knowing that she sends like those little signs -- when you least expect it, but when you need it the most."
Riggins also expressed gratitude for the support she and her sisters have received from their extended family to deal with the loss.
"We are very lucky that we have aunts and uncles and cousins who are like second parents and second siblings to us," Riggins said. "Obviously, they also felt her loss drastically like we did."
Describing what the sisters hope viewers take away from their TikTok videos, Wollner said, "You're not alone in this journey. That's kind of [what] the underlying theme is -- what we sought after."
