The lonely funeral

A bagpiper was recently asked  by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper’s cemetery in the back country. The bagpiper was not familiar with the backwoods, he got lost and, being a typical man, he didn’t stop for directions.

He finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

He felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. He went to the side of the grave and looked down; the vault lid was already in place. The bagpiper didn’t know what else to do, so he started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. He played out his heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. He played like he had never played before for this homeless man.

And as he played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, he wept, they all wept together. The backpiper  finished, packed up his bagpipes and went to his car. His head hung low, his heart was full.

As he opened the door to the car, he heard one of the workers say, “I never seen nothin’ like that before and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.”