The Funeral

A bagpiper from Saskatchewan was recently asked, by a funeral director, to play at a graveside service for a homeless man who had no family or friends. The service was to be at a secluded pauper's cemetery in a deeply wooded area near Edmonton.

As he was not familiar with the backwoods, he got lost, and being a regular guy, refused to stop for directions.

Regretfully, when he finally arrived he saw that the funeral guy had already left 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 then went to the side of the grave and looked down. The vault lid was already in place. He didn't know what else to do, so he started to play his bagpipes.  

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. He played his heart and soul for the homeless man, playing like never before. And as he played "Amazing Grace", the workers began to weep. The bagpiper also started to weep and they all wept together. When he finished, he packed up his bagpipes and loaded the pipes into his car. Although his head was hung low, his heart was full.

But as he opened the door to his car, he heard one of the workers say, "I never seen or heard nothin' like that before. It was beautiful. And, I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."