From details in the story, what can we infer about Buddy's friend?

In Truman Capote’s short story “A Christmas Memory” one can infer that Buddy’s cousin is childlike despite being a woman in her sixties. Capote writes of a lengthy childhood illness but does not specify the nature of that illness. The cousin is intuitive in that she feels seasonal changes such as when the frost is on the windows she knows that it is “fruitcake weather.” The cousin sees the world with childlike wonder whether they...

In Truman Capote’s short story “A Christmas Memory” one can infer that Buddy’s cousin is childlike despite being a woman in her sixties. Capote writes of a lengthy childhood illness but does not specify the nature of that illness. The cousin is intuitive in that she feels seasonal changes such as when the frost is on the windows she knows that it is “fruitcake weather.” The cousin sees the world with childlike wonder whether they are flying kites or choosing the perfect Christmas tree. She is set in her ways and not very adventurous. After the two are caught drinking the dregs of the whiskey, the reader finds the cousin sobbing and she says it is because she is “old and funny.” She realizes that she does not have the reasoning skills that a sixty year old woman should have. From that one can infer that she knows that there is something not right with her but she is not in control of it. Buddy is able to make her laugh in much the same way that an adult would comfort a suffering child.