holiday death

I've only been back to work two days and have heard of the deaths of 3 co-workers' loved ones and one teenage son of a hollywood super-couple. Death is death no matter when it occurs but why does it feel so much sadder when it is so close to the holidays. The dearly departed are still gone. The grief is the same. The funeral will be the same. But the extra something brought on by the time period from Thanksgiving through New Years, give or take a fews weeks on either side, is palatable and noticed by everyone. It's weird to hear it come out of so many mouths, "...and it had to be right after Christmas;" or "what a way to start the new year." My dad died a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and while it did screw up my thoughts on Thanksgiving forever, it would have hurt just as much if he would have died in the middle of July. Wonder why we all notice the difference.