Funeral

There was a bagpiper, who had played many gigs. Recently he was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. The man had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper’s cemetery in the countryside near Inverness.

As the piper was not familiar with this area, he got lost and being a typical man, didn’t stop to ask for directions. He finally arrived an hour late and saw the undertaker 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 apologised to the men for being late. He went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. The piper 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 who had no family or friends. The bagpiper played like he had never played before for this homeless man.

And as the piper played ‘Amazing Grace’, the workers began to weep. They wept, the piper wept… they all wept together.

When he finished, he packed up his bagpipes and headed back towards his car. Though with his head hung low, his heart was full.

As the piper opened the door to his car, he heard one of the workers say, “I’ve never seen nothing like that before and I’ve been installing septic tanks for twenty years.”