Divorced at Six, Marissa Quercetti ‘21

My kindergarten class was fairly small and had one of each kind of kid. A class clown, a dancer, a protege, an athlete, every kid had a role. I was the shy kid for sure. I barely talked, played by myself, and was absolutely terrified of the class troublemaker. His name was Joey. Joey was always getting in trouble with teachers and having to go to the principal’s office. He was rarely allowed out for recess and had to lay by himself on the opposite side of the room during nap time. On a day that Joey behaved and was allowed outside for recess, I saw him sprinting, making a beeline for me. I completely froze, thinking he would do something horrible or mean but, the minute he reached me, he placed a bouquet of freshly picked dandelions into my hand and ran away. I was pretty stunned at first but completely flattered. After recess, we went in for naptime. The teacher would put on a movie during naptime for the kids who couldn’t sleep, which that day happened to be Joey and me. He came over and sat next to me while we watched the movie, and after a little bit, he asked me to be his wife. My kindergarten brain thought that sounded so fun and ‘grown-up,’ so of course, I said yes! I was six years old, and I was a bride. For the rest of naptime, he held my hand while I clutched my dandelions in the other. The next day in school, I went up to my husband’s desk to wish him a good morning. It was then that Joey pulled out the most beautiful ring I had ever seen and told me that since I’m his wife, I have to wear it. I was so excited to put it on. It was a little big on my tiny finger, but I didn’t care; it was so sparkly and shiny I couldn’t keep my eyes off it.After the first bell, my teacher came over to my desk and took my ring away. I was devastated and confused as to why she would take my ring that my husband had given to me. When Joey found out that my ring was gone, he told me he no longer wanted to be with me. So, there I was, six, divorced, confused, and sad. For the longest time, I had no idea where Joey had gotten such a beautiful ring, until about a decade later, when I was in high school, and my mom told me the whole story. The ring given to me was Joey’s mom’s engagement ring. He took it from her jewelry box, brought it to school, and bestowed it upon his wife. When his mother realized her ring was gone, she alerted our teacher, who then informed Joey’s mom of our nuptials. The two connected the dots that the ring on my tiny finger was her engagement ring, so my teacher took it away and held onto it until pickup. I’m still sad my first marriage was a failure but relieved to know our separation was not my fault.

Marissa Quercetti ‘21