It is entirely possible that I'm getting paranoid. But here's the deal. Today I got an email from a student letting me know that she will not be in class this week because her grandmother just passed away. In a class of 21, this is the THIRD student who has missed class because of a grandmother's death.

We are currently in the 7th week of the semester. I'm sure that this could be a coincidence, but I'm tempted to read it as either a very bad sign about the health and well-being of my grandmother, or to be very suspicious of my students.

My questions are (and excuse me if you think this is silly, but I am actually curious):