Not attending a funeral

A girl died in first grade. No one ever said what Mary died from; she was at school on Friday but not on Monday. Early Monday the teacher said, “Mary died on Saturday.” That brought an even more still quietness to the classroom. 

Died? Nobody I knew was supposed to die. Grandparents, sure, but not kids my age. My mother’s parents died the year before, but they were old. My father’s parents were still alive, and healthy. His father, my grandfather, lived another 25 years, and my grandmother another 44 years.

The teacher said Mary’s funeral would be on Thursday at the First Baptist Church. “We will get on a bus thirty minutes before the funeral and go to the church,” she said.

There was a little talk about Mary at recesses. Mostly boys who said, “I claimed Mary. It’s too bad she died.” Several boys said that, they claimed Mary. That’s what boys said then when deciding a certain girl was their girlfriend. “I claim Sue,” a boy would say, and any other boy who had a liking for Sue could either keep his mouth shut or challenge the other boy. That sometimes happened, a second boy saying, “You can’t claim Sue. I claimed her first.” Argument would follow, but seldom did either boy start a shoving contest. Teachers kept a close eye on boys during recess.

Thursday morning arrived, the day of the funeral. After lunch recess, with everybody back in the classroom, the teacher called two other boys and me to her desk. She said, “You boys are wearing overalls. Overalls are not proper clothing to wear to church.” She told us that when the rest of the class got on the bus, we three would go to another class and stay there the rest of the day. We mumbled, “Yes, ma’am,” and went back to our desks.

I wore overalls because that is what my mother bought for me. Overalls were sturdy and adjustable for when a boy grew. Overalls were far cheaper than slacks. Lots of boys wore overalls. The two other boys wore overalls for the same reasons. 

When time came, our teacher told the three of us to go to the other classroom. We did, and the rest of the class got on the school bus and went to Mary’s funeral.