Opinion: Cancer killed my mother, brother, and sisters. As the longest-living member of my family, I was determined to understand why
July 10 was a bittersweet and emotional day for me this year, one I had marked on my calendar long before it arrived. It was the date, at 69 years and 30 days, that I became the longest living member of my family. I was then one day older than my brother when he died. My father died at age 59, my mother at 42, and my two younger sisters at 32 and 24. Except for my dad, all died of different types of cancer.
In the U.S., life expectancy is nearly 80 years. In my family, not including me, the average life span was 45.
