'Scary Mommy' founder Jill Smokler dies of brain cancer at 48

Jill Smokler, founder of popular parenting blog and website "Scary Mommy," died Monday, June 22 after a yearslong battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 48.

Smokler's family broke the news in a social media post, writing "it's with broken hearts that we share that Jill passed away this morning, after a more than two-year fight with glioblastoma."

According to the post, "She faced it the way she faced everything — funny, fierce, and completely herself."

Smokler started "Scary Mommy" in March 2008 while she was raising her three children, all under the age of four, at home. "Here goes. Day One," were the first four words to ever be published on "Scary Mommy."

The obituary shared by Smokler's family described her contributions to the parenting community as "almost twenty years of telling the truth — the mess, the boredom, the guilt, the flashes of rage, and the love so big it somehow made all of it worth it."

"She said the things mothers weren't supposed to say out loud, and because she said them first, millions of you finally felt allowed to say them too," the post read.

A "New York Times bestselling author, a founder, a truth-teller" and a familiar face on daytime television, Smokler was "so many things," but the accomplishment she was most proud to tout was being a mother to her children Lily, Ben, and Evan.

Smokler's family has asked the public to make "donations in her memory" to the The Brain Tumor Network in lieu of flowers.

"If Scary Mommy gave you permission to laugh, to admit it was hard, or to feel a little less alone — that was Jill. That was always Jill. If she meant something to you, we'd love to hear it. Thank you for loving her, and for being part of the community she built," the post concludes.

'Scary Mommy' pays tribute to the 'original scary mommy'

The "Scary Mommy" team paid tribute to the "original scary mommy" in a blog post, thanking Smokler for building a "home for millions of mothers" by being honest about both the joys and the pitfalls of parenting.

"Before Jill, too many of us mothered in a vacuum: alone, unsure, and more than a little pissed off," the tribute read. "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," the tribute added.

The community Smokler built is "still thriving" nearly two decades later, a "huge testament to the woman who started it all," the "Scary Mommy" team said.

"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," Smokler's family said in a statement. "She was funny, fearless, generous, and entirely herself."

The statement continued: "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."