Irish Bagpiper
As a bagpiper, I
was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a
homeless man who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be held
at a cemetery in the remote countryside and this man would be the first
to be laid to rest there.
As I was not
familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost and being a typical
man, did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw
the backhoe and the crew who were eating lunch but the hearse was
nowhere in sight.
I apologized to
the workers for my tardiness and stepped to the side of the open grave
where I saw the vault lid already in place.
I assured the
workers I would not hold them up for long but this was the proper thing
to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I played
out my heart and soul.
As I played the
workers began to weep. I played and I played like I'd never played
before, from Going Home and The Lord is My Shepherd to Flowers of the
Forest. I closed the lengthy session with Amazing Grace and walked to
my car...
As I was opening
the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying
to another, "Sweet Jeezuz, Mary'n Joseph, I never seen nothin' like
that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."