jaydor Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 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 former Army Bugler, I play at many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless serviceman. He had no family or friends. The service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Mid Wales 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 sound the Last Post. 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 serviceman. And as I played "The Last Post", the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my Bugle and gear up 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." Apparently, I'm still lost....it's a man thing’’. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olderndirt Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 You sound like a guy I should know - all the way to the bit of whimsy at the end, you had me hook, line and sinker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 You had me laughing and crying at the same time with that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 I forwarded this on to an old buddy who was a Marine Corps bugler at Camp Pendleton back in the early 1960's. I can't wait to see what he says ................Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 great story James, had me hooked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawrence aldrich Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 10 hours ago, JohnY said: You had me laughing and crying at the same time with that one! I'm halfway with you, I just didn't do the crying part...……………… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddler Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 I laughed so hard the tears streamed down my cheeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc_Z Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 After I returned from Vietnam to Ft. Sill, OK., I was often part of funeral details for fallen serviceman. We always made sure we left early enough to so that getting lost would never be an issue. I can't imagine what it would have been for a family to have to wait on the detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F737MAX Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Very good @jaydor, I fell for it too! I can almost see this being played out as a Dave Allen / Two Ronnies sketch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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