The white casket is low enough for most of Jamyla Bolden’s elementary school classmates to gaze directly into the face of their friend, her eyes closed, her lashes long.
A childish angel adorns the interior satin lid just above the fine profile of Jamyla’s face and gazes down wide-eyed on the children. A message beneath it reads, “You shall fly with new wings.”
The children have come to the wake at Wade Funeral Home on an August evening to say goodbye to Jamyla, a fellow fourth-grader at Koch Elementary School who had been shot through a window as she completed her homework on her mother’s bed.
They stand in the cement block chapel next to parents and grandparents at the casket, most too shy and uncomfortable to speak. The narrow slivers of stained-glass windows barely draw in outside light.
The children seek solace deep in their parents’ arms. Some of the boys put their hands in their pockets to resist the urge to reach out.
[For more of this story, written by Nancy Cambria, go to http://graphics.stltoday.com/apps/stress/]
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