<p>“So, why do you expect a self-centered college student to call home and check on their parents? I could never imagine anything happening to my parents (although we live in a safe area and they are both relatively young), so I would never call home to see if they were OK if I was a kid who didn’t enjoying talking to my parents just to talk them.”</p>
<p>I don’t expect college kids to call home daily to check on their parents. My point was that we middle aged parents are more than likely in more danger than are our kids, yet our kids don’t call us daily to check on us nor would most of us want or expect them to call for that reason.</p>
<p>Reality is that everyone – including one’s parents – is at risk. I know a young woman who ended up going to college in her hometown because she couldn’t afford her first choice college and didn’t get into other schools that would have provided full aid. Within 6 months of her starting college, both of her parents suddenly died: Her mother from a brain aneuryism, her dad died in his sleep of a heart attack. Neither was older than age 52, and neither had any kind of medical history that would have indicated they were at risk of sudden death. So, you never know.</p>
<p>People here on CC routinely post articles about college students who suddenly die or have some unfortunate or dangerous occurance. However, no one is posting articles about college students’ parents who suddenly die. I’m sure that the latter happens far more than does the former.</p>