God, Del. That's awful. What makes some people such monsters? Are they born or made? I lean a little towards the latter but I'm sure it's a combination of a lot of things. My brother punished me a couple of times, too, when I threatened to tell, but nothing like what your (boy) cousin did.
That reminds me - I saw "Infamous" the other night, and there was a line in it - a soliloquy, really, and spoken by a solitary rancher no less - that was so beautiful. I hope I can do some justice to it. He was talking to Capote and Harper Lee about the murderers, and he said something along the lines of how being good to other people and doing the right thing in life roots you a little more each time to this earth - makes you a part of it. But for some people, a wind blows in that's too strong for them to ignore, and it pulls them out like they're as light as a feather (interesting how they used the earth and wind this time to symbolize similar and yet vastly different things). Once they're taken up by it, there's no coming back down to earth.
We can't fix the ones who've been taken up by that wind, but we can help the ones who are still holding on a little bit, like you did, Elle.
I was in the store a couple of weeks ago with Will and he was stomping on my last nerve, touching everything when I told him not to touch things, asking for everything he saw and not at all politely. I was looking at the drink boxes, getting him some for his school lunches, and he was carrying on about "No! I want the yellow ones! The YELLOW ones!" They were *all* yellow - he likes lemonade, and I was perusing that part of the selection. I just put my head in my hand for a second, as if to say "Give me a minute - I'm asking God to kill me" and I heard this very kind voice say, "I think he means this one." A woman about my age with her little boy, about a year older than Will, was directing me towards one of the seventeen yellow products. I said to Will "Is this it?" He says "Yeah! YAY!" I looked at my savior and said "Thank you." She just said "Believe me, I know." A couple of times I've seen a kid carrying on with his or her Mom in the store and walked by with Will and said, "It's a *fun* age, isn't it?" They've always given me such a grateful look. Just being reminded now and again that your kid isn't the only one who's ever behaved atrociously in public helps.
And thanks, Adrian. You are most kind.