One thing to note, Meredith is technically dead. She has flatlined. They can have killed off a main character and then have her return to life. IT happens all the time. I mean even Meredith had the opening speech about people miraculously gedtting better.
SPOILER:
IN regards to the Ellis Grey thing, I heard that as well but it would be a tad bit of overkill to have two parents die with only two weeks in between them. THat said, I wouldnt be surprised if they go to tell Ellis about her daughter and she has a heart attack or something and dies.
"Don't thank your parents, if you were raised in a nurturing environment you wouldnt be in show business"--Conan O'Brien at the 2006 Emmy Awards