Time is like a river. You cannot touch the water twice,
because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life.
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 South West of Western
Australia.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods of the South West,
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 was hung low, my heart was full.? As I opened the
door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen
anything like that before, and I've been putting in septic
tanks for twenty years."