As a bagpiper, I was asked to play at a graveside service for a man who had no family or friends.

The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery in the countryside and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there. I became lost and finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew who were eating lunch but the hearse was nowhere in sight.

I assured the workers that this was the proper thing to do. They gathered around and I played out my heart and soul. They began to weep and I played like I'd never played before.

As I went to my car, I overheard one of the workers say, "Man, I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for 20 years."