A Homeless Man's Funeral

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was 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 Kentucky back country. As I was not familiar with

the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop

for directions.


I 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. I felt badly and

apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the

grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I

didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I

played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and

friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless

man. And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep.

They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car.

Though my head hung low, my heart was full. As I opened the door to

my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like

that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently I'm still lost