I miss my parents to much.

I am an international student and have been in the UK for the past 2 years. My parents always wanted me to get a good education. When my offer from Oxford came through, I was encouraged to take it... so I did.

I was never a rebellious teen; I love my parents and they're like my rock, always brutally honest, always supportive. Since coming to uni, I see them about twice a year. I am currently in the process of filing an application to remain in the UK to study medicine. I paused for a moment and realised -that's another 4 - 5 years! I miss my parents. I'm worried about their health, especially my mum's. I talked to a family friend on Skype today. He's no longer very close to my family but said he saw my dad walking our dog across the street the other day and “he didn't look 100%". That scared me so much. We use snapchat on our phones and sometimes he'd take a snapshot of his face and I'd catch my breath - he looks so much older. ;( My mum never had a single strand of white hair before and now she has.

I'm not really asking for a solution to the problem. From the way I see it, if I miss my parents so much I can just go back to my home country. I just want to hear what other people's experiences are. Do you think this is just part of growing up? Leaving home? I am nearly 21. Is it normal to still be this attached to my parents?