My mom passed away while I was a young adult, she had a mental illness that was going to get worse and I’m the only child. It took over a year to get over her passing, but in hindsight, and as morbid as it is, it was a blessing in some ways because it meant I could focus on my new family and career without putting life on pause to care for her.

You got downvoted for this comment, but you have a good point. I'm sure plenty of people would have loved to take care of their parents in their old age rather than have them pass away at a relatively young age.

"Putting your life on hold" is a pretty cold view of things. I'm not sure I'd call the effort to take care of your family "putting your life on hold". It is life itself. Life is more than your career and the money you have in the bank.

Family gets old, family get sick, family die. It's not easy and yeah, you may need to sacrifice some things you want because of it. It's just the human condition.

Oh I guess we’re supposed to be sad for you losing your parents as an adult? When someone else lost them as a child?