HEARTBREAK

The next summer Twila caught the “summer complaint,” and being a weak child from the start, succumbed to the illness. Mother sent Daddy over to the Painters with a freshly baked apple pie. The funeral was to be held early the next morning. Mother said it had to be early, because the Painters couldn’t afford to have Twila embalmed.

Two rows of folding chairs were placed over a patch of buffalo grass enclosed by bricks set at an angle in the yard just a few feet south of the Painter house, and the little casket sat on the porch. Two women from the Baptist Church sang “Precious Jewels,” and “Rock of Ages,” over the muffled grief-stricken sobs of Beulah and the silent stoicism of Hank. The preacher gave a short sermon, saying, “The old must die, but the young may die, and no man knoweth the day,” and there was a closing prayer. Jenny thought it was a very pretty funeral, with such a lovely spray of flowers beside the satin lined casket, the pretty sad singing and everyone so dressed up in best clothing. She wore her yellow silk dress, and Margaret wore a filmy pink flowered one. Mother had made both of these from dresses that she had worn a few years earlier. She dyed Jenny’s with yellow Rit dye.

Daddy and three other neighbors were pall bearers and carried the casket to a special black car called a hearse. A small procession of cars followed the car with the casket and the mourners to the cemetery north of town. Mother said that it was very sad, and Daddy said that yeah, Hank and Beulah sure had lots of bad luck, but that these things just happened.

After this, Margaret and Jenny used Twila’s funeral as a model for doll and small animal and bird and pet funerals whenever the occasion arose. It seemed to help them face the loss and get over it more quickly, even if it brought more tears.