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Distant grief

A local critic has died of cancer. I didn't know him. I'm sure I met him. He gave me some nice reviews. I feel sad that he's died.

A friend's ex-husband is dying of cancer. I didn't know him at all, but I feel very sad for her and her children.

I remember 9 years ago a friend who was already spending his evenings in chat rooms came into work, shaken that a young teenager he knew on a board (literary I think, not strange) had died and someone else on the board mentioned it. He said he didn't know how to describe his sorrow. Virtual grief?
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