Bagpipes at a Funeral
I was up in Northeast Georgia one day and on my way back home, decided to drop in on an Uncle that I hadn't seen in quite some time. When I got to his house, he was just about to get into his van and rather than cut the visit short, he asked if I had time to go with him, so I did. He was on his way to a funeral but said it wouldn't take but just a bit.
He's a bagpiper, and is often requested for funerals. He 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 back hills country.
He wasn't familiar with the area and got lost and, being typical men, we didn't stop for directions. We were lost and Bobby just kept driving around, looking.
We 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.
Bobby felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. Since I didn't know the man, I just stayed off to the side while Bobby went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. He didn't know what else to do, so he started to play.
The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. He really played out his heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. He played for this homeless man like I've never heard anyone play the bagpipes.
While he played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept and I heard Bobby splutter a note or two. We all wept together. When he finished, without saying a word he folded up his bagpipes and started back to the van.
While Bobby was packing the bagpipes into the case in the rear of the van, I had started to get in on the passenger side and 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 we're still lost.... it's a man thing.
