I played at a graveside service on December 30th for a family that celebrates Georgia Tech loyalty, and was given the address for Floral Hills Memory Gardens. I arrived early at Floral Hills, and I searched for the tent with chairs. I drove back and forth, from one side of Floral Hills to the other 3 times, and I found 3 tents, but none had chairs, so I went and asked in the Floral Hills office, and they referred me to this tent location in the picture below. Nope, that’s not what an imminent graveside looks like!
Then I remembered a mention of Rehoboth Cemetery and found it on Google, on the same road and nestled in the middle of Floral Hills, surrounded like a banana by Floral Hills. There was the tent and chairs looking just right!
I tuned my pipes and prepared to play the requested hymn medley as they arrived, and at the end of the service they wanted me to play Amazing Grace. Then, after pausing for a few moments, they wanted me to play the Georgia Tech fight song a few times. After playing that, I was approached by 2 different UGA fans who asked me me if I would play the UGA “Glory, Glory, to Old Georgia”; one even offered me $500 to play it. Although I know the UGA tune well, I was bound to be loyal to the Georgia Tech fan family that hired me, to keep their moment of heritage celebration sacred. Hello integrity, good bye $500.
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