It seems I'm not alone at being alone

My cousin from London called me last night. Actually he has been living in Amsterdam for the past 4 years and working as a stock broker. This is the cousin who my dad insisted was a drug addict because he lives in Amsterdam. The odd thing is that we haven't spoken in about 10+ years but he acted as if he was returning my call from last week. He's 27 and sounds like he's doing well. He just moved into a flat by himself along the canal (all I kept think was red light district!) and was considering buying a house either in Amsterdam or London. He sounded so nice but I just couldn't help questioning why he called. It was 2 am in Amsterdam when he called and he said he had just gotten home from work. Also, I swore I heard him take a hit of a bong twice while we were chatting. He also seemed strangely protective of my sister J. "I need to come over and meet the geezer that's marrying my kid sister" he said. Umm...J is turning 26 this year and she has met him twice. And she doesn't remember either time. Now I can see if his sister had called me. She and I are only a few months apart and she's very cool. I think she has sort of stayed off the family radar since she got d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d. (That's the way my aunt says it. She either spells it out or whispers as if she's at a funeral). I heard the gamut of rumors pertaining to her from all my gossipmongering aunties. Everything from she was an alcoholic to he was using her free miles on British Airways (she worked there) to fly to see his girlfriend in India.

Anyway, D thinks I'm being too harsh regarding the phone call. Perhaps he is going through some sort of crisis and is reaching out to his family he said. Sure. The other option is that he was high as a 747 when he called and he didn't realize who the hell he was talking to.