You're not the only one. I consider myself to be a very caring person, but I think as a child I learned to keep myself very distant from everyone so I wouldn't get hurt. I don't remember being negatively affected by people dying as a child, including when it was a step parent. How awful is that? As a teenager when a couple of (not so close) friends my own age died, I thought I felt sad for their close friends and family, but it was like the sadness didn't even touch me. Although that was just how I felt as a child and I can't change that, things began to change themselves when I reached early 20's. I'm not sure what shifted, but feeling that way as a child certainly doesn't mean that the emotions are gone forever.

I also have trouble telling when things happened to me as a child, and most things I talk about are approximate ages, because I'm always guessing, even when it comes to things like the death of a close relative.