It was tragic that last week Mary Kennedy seemingly fell victim to the Kennedy curse and killed herself, leaving behind four children. But some of the sordid details now being revealed about the weeks leading up to her suicide are casting an even more tragic pall over her death. Mary's estranged husband, Robert Kennedy, Jr., had filed for divorce and begun dating actress Cheryl Hines. Hines is best known for her starring role in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. And, like a lot of new girlfriends, Hines had been making the events, parties, and general life rounds with her boyfriend, Mary's estranged husband. In fact, she seemed to sort of be taking over Mary's role in Robert's life entirely. (Mary also seemed to already know Cheryl and was photographed with her in 2010.)

Mary had issues with alcohol, debt, and depression, but watching the new life that Robert was carving out with his Hollywood girlfriend couldn't have helped her state of mind.

Reportedly in the weeks leading up to Mary's suicide, Cheryl Hines was not only attending events, galas, and parties with Robert, but she was actively tweeting about them.

Wrote Cheryl after attending a birthday party for actress Glenn Close, who was a good friend of Mary's:

I got to tell #GlenClose what an inspiration she has always been to me

Additionally, Kerry Kennedy, who is Robert's sister and who introduced Mary to him, had recently tweeted a picture of Robert and Cheryl Hines, arm and arm, with Glenn Close at her birthday party. Glenn was so close to Mary that she sang at her funeral. It couldn't have been too fun for Mary to see her good pal hanging with her estranged husband and his new girlfriend.

Cheryl was also spending time with Mary's children, as well as going to local haunts normally frequented by Mary and her husband. Cheryl then shared that with her followers on Twitter. She wrote about Aiden, Mary and Robert's son:

Rabid, unhinged New England zealotry by 10-yr.-old Aidan Kennedy has nearly turned me into Pats fan

I have zero idea if Mary was aware of Cheryl's activities on Twitter. But Twitter is public (unless you change your settings and most people don't). And most of us have cyberstalked an ex and an ex's new girlfriend on occasion. Plus, Mary's friends have said that Robert's relationship with Cheryl was "humiliating" for her.

Cheryl Hines deleted her account on May 16, the day Mary killed herself, so either she now realizes what she did was insensitive, or she doesn't want to appear insensitive. I'm not saying that Cheryl Hines had a clue about just how fragile Mary was. For all we know, Robert was telling Cheryl that everything was great between him and Mary.

But let this be a lesson to us all: When there are children involved, as well as a spouse who is not yet officially an ex-spouse, no need to flaunt the new relationship all over Twitter.

Do you think tweets like this can drive someone over the edge?

 

Image via Getty