Hagen Brothers farms,Goodrich ND |
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. 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 and Amazing Grace. As I played, some of the workers began to weep.
I closed the lengthy session and walked to my car. As I was opening the door and preparing to leave, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "Sweet Jaysus, Mary 'n Joseph, I've never seen nothin' like that before, and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for 22 years."
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