Watch what this woman did when her dad said he wanted bagpipes at his funeral
When a Marine veteran with terminal cancer asked his daughter for a specific type of music to be played at his funeral, she made sure he'd get it — while he was still alive.
Richard Marsh had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic and liver cancer in Cleveland, Ohio. His daughter, Stacey Dombalis, had what she described as "some hard discussions" with him. His funeral service details were among them.
"He said, 'Of course, I want bagpipes,'" said Dombalis. "And I couldn't sleep that night thinking about that. I thought, 'Gosh, what can I do that we could have some happiness and enjoy something instead of all these sad and hard talks?' And I thought, 'I wonder if I could find a bagpiper.'"
She says it reminds him of his years in the service. She searched a vendor marketplace, The Bash, for someone who could serenade her father the following day. Michael Crawley, a musician whose entire family has played the bagpipes for generations, answered the call.
"Whether it's invoking feelings that are happy feelings or sad or somber moments, it's music, and it connects us and it keeps us going," said Crawley.
Dombalis had to trick her dad into joining her outside for the surprise performance. Video captured Marsh's moving reaction to his daughter's gift.
But it's what he did next that shocked everyone.
Watch the video below to see what this former Marine captain did when the bagpipes began.
"I saw this man who's not in the best of health stand up," said Dombalis. He wasn't going to sit down. He wanted to stand up and salute, and it just made me proud of him."
Crawley says it was so unexpected that he had to fight back tears himself. The bagpipes he played belonged to his own father, who died many years ago.
"To meet people that are just daily examples of the way to live and the way to face adversity and the way to face death," said Crawley. "Obviously, it should be every one of us saluting him."
Dombalis says her father, who can't speak too much anymore and wasn't well enough to be interviewed, has decided not to have any formal medical treatment and will spend his remaining time near the water at a home in Mexico. She wanted to give him a send-off neither will forget.
"We all are so busy in our lives and we take our families for granted until we don't have them, and I've been so blessed to not have my dad taken away from me unexpectedly," said Dombalis. "We've done some beautiful things together and I'm leaving nothing unsaid, so that makes me very happy."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman hires bagpiper to fulfill dying dad's funeral wish
