A man dying of cancer was overwhelmed after his daughter had put together a unique performance specifically for him, fulfilling one of his last wishes.

Sadly, and as ironic as it may sound, death is a part of life. It’s something that everyone walking on the face of the earth will encounter at one time or another. Regardless, that does not make losing a loved one any less painful. It will always hurt and sting no matter the circumstances surrounding it, whether expected or not.

Richard Marsh, a Marine captain veteran, has stage four pancreatic and liver cancer. Richard and his daughter, Stacey Dombalis, know his passing is sadly inevitable. Knowing that his life would be coming to an end, Richard has worked with his daughter to plan his funeral. One of the things Richard knew that he wanted at his service was a bagpiper. He wanted that beautiful instrument played at his funeral.

However, a clip posted on YouTube shows how Stacey did one even better for her beloved father. Instead of waiting until his passing, Stacey reached out to a bagpiper. She hired him to give her father a surprise performance, which brought tears to Richard’s eyes as he stood up to salute the musician.

“I saw this, this man who’s not in the best of health, you know, stand up,” Stacey said. “He wasn’t going to sit down. He wanted to stand up and salute.”

Mike Crawley, who played the bagpipe in the clip, was blown away by Richard’s reaction and insistence on saluting him.

“Which is just ridiculous,” Mike said. “A man of his military background standing up and saluting me when obviously it should be every one of us saluting him.”

Stacey said the moment when her father stood up and saluted Mike as he played the bagpipe was “just beautiful to watch.”

Later in the clip, Mike mentioned that the bagpipes hold a special place in his heart and meant a ton to his late father. 

“Every time I play, I believe, I honor my dad,” Mike said.

Ephesians 4:32 “And be kind to one another, full of pity, having forgiveness for one another, even as God in Christ has forgiveness for you.”