"...without that hope, I dont think I could go on in this life..."
It's not the same, but I do feel that way about my dad.
Well, losing a child is the worst, thats for sure...I lost my son, while both of my parents were still alive....
When my parents became ill, dad with cancer and mom with Alzheimers, I took care of them both at home, until they died...people often asked me, how was I able to care for them both at the same time for a while(dad died a few years before mom)....
I told people, well, ,I have been through the worst, caring for my son while he was ill, and then watching him die...so I had been through the worst thing possible...taking care of my parents, and having to bury them, seemed not so difficult in relation to what I went through with my son...
But having God there, for you at all times, is what gets us through, no matter the situation...