not what I expected

My father died when I was 22. He was 67. My mother died when I was 34. She was 73. I felt some sense of abandonment, I was an orphan. And I missed them dearly. Most of all I missed the grandparents they wouldd have been to my children At age 34, I realized that I would get no sympathy, but, I missed having parents at my children's graduations, ( and in two cases at their births) at their confirmations, weddings, etc. My husbands parents were blessed with longevity. My in-laws witnesses my children's births, baptisms, confirmations, high school graduations, and his mother alone was there for all three college graduations, weddings, the birth and baptism of 4 great-grandchildren, and another engagement. She is still going strong. My sense was, that what I lost in having my parents present for these occasions, was made up for in not having to worry about aging parents. I really exalted in the fact that I had no parents while my friends were dealing with their parents illnesses. Then suddenly I got a wake up call. My widowed sister, eight years my senior was diagnosed with stage four melenoma.