[REDCART]

He was a young, novice bagpiper and was asked by a funeral director friend to play at a graveside service for a homeless man, with no family or friends.

The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there.

As he was not familiar with the backwoods area, the young bagpiper became lost and being a typical man did not stop for directions. He finally arrived an hour late.

He saw the backhoe and the crew, who were eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight.

He apologized to the workers for his tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where he saw the vault lid already in place.

He assured the workers he would not hold them up for long, but this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch.

He played out his heart and soul.

As he played, the workers began to weep.

He played, and he played, like he'd never played before: >From "My Home" and "The Lord Is My Shepherd" to "Flowers of the Forest" .... He closed the lengthy session with "Amazing Grace" and walked to his car.

As he was opening the door and taking off his coat, he overheard one of the workers saying to another:

"Jeezuz, Mary'n Joseph, I never seen nothin' like that before ...

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