“…To be laid to rest”

 

I just read a piece that touched a memory. 

"Pupils of the Johannes-Sturmius-Gymnasium say goodbye to the coffin with the bones of a school skeleton at the cemetery, where they are being buried, in Schleiden, Germany, May 11, 2022. The real skeleton of an unknown woman, christened Anh Bian by the students.  Vietnamese for “mysterious peace” She had served as a visual object for the students in biology classes since 1952.  

Students had for years wanted the woman’s remains to be buried, The school hopes to learn more about her origins once the results of DNA samples taken from the bones are returned. Biology lessons are now conducted using a plastic model.”  (AP)

In my high school we also had an actual skeleton in our biology lab. 

The bones were from a boy our age. About 14.  His remains were abused. Obscene items were hung on him. Objects were shoved into his mouth. Who he was where he came from and how such a fate befell him was never known. Nor generally cared about. 

Some few of us thought what was done to him a sacrilege. 

It’s possible over 50 years later he’s still there still being mocked.