My mother passed away about 2 years ago. The cancer took her quickly but it was a very sad event and it devastated all of my very small family. She had always been the center of our lives and now she was gone.

It took many of us by surprise that she went before my dad. She died in her late 50s and my father was just topping 90. He isn’t in the best of health but he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

No, you didn’t read that wrong. There is a 34 year age gap between my parents. My parents married late in my dad’s life. He was in his early 50s and my mom was a freshman in college. Since my dad was a professor and I was born about 7 months after they got married, it’s pretty obvious how that happened.

I grew up an only child in a wonderful home. My parents fought. A lot. But ev