I was just 21 when my Gram passed away. My mother died when I was 39, and my father died when I was 45. I had no idea that my mother was ill, and yet we spoke at least once or twice a week. My father was former military, and it wasn’t his way to confide.
Oh you did lose them all when you were so young. My father was former military also. I know well what you mean. My mother said there was so much about the war she had never heard until I married my husband. When we were in the military my father would tell my husband stories Mother said she had never heard.
You are so right in saying our elders have so much to teach. You sound as though you have done just fine though. Your parents would be very proud of you.