63 is not exactly an early age - but i find it refreshing and a sign of our times that people are generally considered too young to die at 63... in the not so distant past 50 would have been considered a ripe old age.
joko, 63 is incredibly young! The first flush of youth!
Of course I may be biased.
ttfn, yes, maybe it's because Whitney had a history of looking as though her life was out of control that we had somehow mentally written her off already. Donna's death was more of a shock.