I felt a tremendous sense of guilt when my mother unexpectedly died on Christmas Eve in 2004 at the young age of 48. I think some of it stems from the guilt I've felt over her death. "But it's not a given that if your mom or dad died young, you're definitely going to die young." "Guilt is there because our culture does not provide children, especially young ones, with the reason why their parents died," she explains. Soon, she says, I will begin to realize that just because my mother died young doesn't mean I will, too.

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Persons: didn't, I've, I'm, Jumoke Omojola, Omojola, doesn't Organizations: Service, Business, Social, National Institutes of Health Locations: Illinois, Kansas City , Missouri