Katherine Heigl is amazed by her parents' resilience following the tragic death of her brother in 1986 - because now she is a mum herself she understands how badly the loss must have affected them.
The Knocked Up star's older brother Jason died at the age of 15 when he was thrown from the back of a pick-up truck in a car accident.
Heigl observed her mum and dad mourning the loss of her sibling 24 years ago, but she has only recently realised the torment they must have gone through.
The actress feels she can empathise with their loss better now she is a mother to adopted daughter Naleigh - and she's started talking to her mum about the painful subject.
She says, "I sat with my parents' pain since I was seven years old, and it was devastating to all of us. But I didn't really understand what they went through until I became a mother myself.
"I just asked my mum last week, 'How did you do it? How do you survive that?'"
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