Behind the mask...
An older cousin of mine had it all. Happily married to an attractive, fun, vivacious girl, they had two kids - a gorgeous blue-eyed angel of a daughter and a ruddy-cheeked, healthy baby boy.

My cousin was the picture of contentedness. He was an extroverted nutter - providing hours of entertainment for his kids and extended family. He was always the first to dance at functions, the first to crack a joke or break awkward silences and the one person you wanted with you on a night out - never a dull moment.

Then one day. Without warning. As sudden as cough or a sneeze, the light went out of him. He became deflated, withdrawn, miserable. His kids felt it, his wife felt it, we all felt it. He was a shadow of his former self.

It fell to me to try and locate the source of his instant depression. We were close in age and had many a holiday and rowdy evening in common. I chatted to him for ages. We telephoned. We emailed. We even went for a day's walk in the countryside together. But he would reveal nothing. No clues at all to why he had pretty much disappeared from our lives.

Then a few days later I got a text from him. It was short, simple and to the point. And what it said answered everything. There was no need for any more questions. No need for anymore explanations.

What he wrote was the most beautiful, evocative and paralysing sentence I've ever read.

'The problem with having a secret girlfriend,' he said, 'is that you're not supposed to cry they're hit by a car.'
( Albert Marshmallow is a completely irredeemable cunt, Fri 6 Aug 2010, 13:05, 3 replies)

That's similtaneously
incredibly depressing and beautiful.
I don't really know what to say.
(Sundayturkey has the biggest mug of tea, Fri 6 Aug 2010, 16:46, closed)

You have the wrong thread.
I'm sure that "my cousin is a cunt" will come up though.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 6 Aug 2010, 18:02, closed)

well, fair enough
I'm not saying what he did was right; but I'm seeing this as a "beauty is truth, truth beauty" kind of moment.

A few short words to the recipient, which I assume brought enlightentment (snapping instantly into context the days of concerning, even alarming, behaviour), sympathy (for the cousins real feeling of loss, no matter how immoral the relationship), and relief (that it's not, say, a secret terminal illness that's about to tear the family apart).

Am I on the mark here?
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Sat 7 Aug 2010, 1:49, closed)