'Your love was like sunshine': Kaitlyn Dever mourns loss of mother Kathy who lost battle to cancer at 53

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kaitlyn Dever, the 27-year-old star of HBO’s 'The Last of Us', shared a heartbreaking tribute to her mother Kathy Dever who lost 14-year-long battle to stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, February 21, the actress expressed her love and gratitude for her late mother who was her “life” and “everything.”

Kaitlyn Dever’s emotional message to her mother Kathy Dever

The actress began her caption with the words, “My mama. My life. My everything.”

She then continued to describe the gifts, joy, and love that her mother gave her and their family.

She recalled the happy moments they shared, such as having coffee, watching 'Seinfeld', and going places together.

Speaking about her mother's love for her, she said, "Your love was like sunshine which warmed me when I needed it the most and made me smile when I was ever sad."

Kaitlyn said that her mother was “everyone’s favorite” and “the sweetest in the world.”

She also admitted, "I will be broken forever without you and I don’t know how I’ll go on."

Kaitlyn Dever also thanked her mother for giving her sisters Mady and Jane Dever and her father Tim Dever who will always support each other.

She praised her mother as “the greatest mom and wife anyone could ever ever ask for” and appreciated her "fighting so hard for us for so long."

Kaitlyn said she was “forever, forever, grateful” for the special time they had with her, but that it will never be enough.

She ended her message by saying how much she misses her mother’s smile, humor, hugs, kisses, and hand. She called her mother her “sweetest, beautiful girl” and her “best friend.”

She declared her love for her mother and said, “What a gift it is to love you. I love you forever and ever, Mom.”

Kaitlyn Dever’s family photos with her mother

The actress also posted a carousel of images that showed her bond with her mother over the years.

One of the photos featured Kaitlyn Dever as a young child sitting on her mother’s lap on a park bench.

Another photo showed them posing together on the night of the actress’ 'Ticket to Paradise' 2022 premiere.

The carousel also included recent and throwback family photos with her father and sisters.

Kaitlyn Dever’s upcoming role and her mother’s health struggles

Kaitlyn Dever, who is known for her roles in 'Booksmart', 'Unbelievable', and 'Dear Evan Hansen', will play the vengeful soldier Abigail ‘Abby’ Anderson in the second season of 'The Last of Us', a TV adaptation of the 2013 Sony Computer Entertainment video game.

The show is created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and will premiere on HBO in 2024.

The actress has been open about her mother’s health struggles in the past. In October 2020, she shared a photo of herself and her mother on social media in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

She revealed that her mother had been "battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer for 10 years" since she was diagnosed at 39 years old.

She said that some days were “so so scary” and that they got through it together as a family.

She also expressed her gratitude for the doctors who took care of her mother and reminded everyone to get checked frequently and fund research when possible.

Dever is best known for her roles on Tim Allen's 'Last Man Standing', according to ET Online.

She recently starred in Taika Waititi's 'Next Goal Wins', Hulu's 'No One Will Save You', and Schitt's 'Creek star Dan Levy's 'Good Grief' on Netflix.