New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- I got choked up watching the Emmy Awards last week.

Macaulay Culkin, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy were on stage to pay tribute to the late Catherine O'Hara. A wondrous comedienne with a name straight out of a mid-century novel, O'Hara had a storied career, and many an actor or filmmaker could honour her, but choosing these three felt special. They were, memorably, her on-screen children, with Levy and Murphy playing her vapid spawn David and Alexis on Schitt's Creek, and Culkin playing her repeatedly forgotten son Kevin in Home Alone. "She was my mom," said Culkin. "She was our Mama. By extension, she's all of our Mama."

Why on earth did this hit me so hard?

Bereavement is a profound blow. The loss of a parent cuts ...