The Bag Piper
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 apologised 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 Mary
'n Joseph, I have never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in
septic tanks for twenty years.
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