I totally get what you are saying about alot of people seeming to be unaffected by things that I find very upsetting. In fact, I would say that some people even seem to enjoy it.
Your reaction brings to mind my own reaction to visiting the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial a few years back and watching people traipse around this beautiful park like it was, well, a park. I, on the other hand, had a really hard time being in that place even for a little while, although I had resolved to go once to pay my respects. And then I started thinking about all the Civil War battlefields, and other historic places that people visit now where people had died and even though it was much longer ago, it doesn't make the tragedy any less, you know? Alot of people seem to be able to distance themselves from these experiences, but it doesn't make you weird if you don't. It makes you empathetic and that is a good, albeit sometimes painful, thing to be.
So, I guess we here are likely to have emotional OEs like our kids!
I don't think there is anything strange about your reaction, but perhaps it would be good to focus less on wishing you could change things (which obviously you can't), and just think about how learning about this might give you useful insights into your family in the present. And I think it is fine to be angry about this woman's lot in life, it sucked!
