Another unexpected death

There was this news item on the Saturday papers - Toddler dies after falling seven floors
KUALA LUMPUR: A two-year-old boy fell to his death from the seventh floor of his apartment block in Taman Desa here.
Mathew Athan Lariche had just finished playing with his mother and five-year-old sister when the mishap occurred at 7.10pm.
The victim and his sister were running up to their apartment unit on the 12th floor when his mother noticed he had gone missing on the seventh floor.
She found her son’s body sprawled on the pavement.
At the time of reading this, it was just another news item to me. All it evoked in me was - Poor kid! What happened?
Then my colleague KK SMSed me and told me that was her nephew! That release a flood of emotions and memories for me!
- of the death of another colleague's son more than 20 years ago. JT's son died due to overmedication from a malarial infection. There was not a dry eye in the room during his wake.
- Of another colleague LKH whose son similarly plunged to his death from the upper floors of their apartment. All of us who had attended that wake felt for the family
- Not forgetting my nephew Andrew who died from cot death at 6 months. The hurt is still there when I think about it. I was worried for my mum then as she had spent 6 months in London looking after Andrew and this happened a few weeks after she got back to KL.
- But it is not just the young ones. I am sure as LS reads this, she would remember the day her mum died under similarly circumstances. And she was only in her secondary school then! I took time off from work to help LS and her siblings cope with the funeral and arrange for their lives thereafter
- Although I don't know Dave, his battle with cancer was a long drawn out affair and I am not sure if it was because I was there for ECEL that we were close at that time. Dave's family were prepared for his demise but even then ECEL was hit hard for a long time over the death of her father.

So what is it about the death of people who are related to people you know? In me, they evoke strong emotional feelings. But I don't have such feelings during the death of my grandparents and my biological father. Is it because of the stronger bonds that I have with them, i.e. the weaker or non existent bond with my grandparents and father?

I'll need to ask my e-friend Steph on this. She is studying psychology. Maybe she can tell me.

Matthew - rest in peace young man.