If Zarafa would sing, if she would share her secret songs for me to hear, I believe today she would sing a medley of familiar American songbook tunes in praise of Grant, our friend who coaxed her into being, gave her a twinkle in her eye to meet the mirth in his own, and who imbued her with grace and dignity. She would reach across time and into space to remind him, with a knowing chuckle: “I’ve got you under my skin; deep in the heart of me; you’re really a part of me.” Yes, dear friend, we are a part of each other.
Stretching her long neck up into the branches of the massive olive tree
Zarafa would sing: “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day.” Then, having warmed to the sound of her own voice, she would invite Grant to a tender, ebullient duet, singing: “On a clear day . . . the glow of your being outshines every star; You’ll feel part of every mountain sea and shore. . . ”
Hearing Zarafa and Grant sing so sweetly, I would invite Billy Joel to join in, and I would sing too: “you should always know, wherever you may go, no matter where you are, I never will be far away . . . inside this ancient heart you’ll always be a part of me. . . .Someday we’ll all be gone but lullabies go on and on. They never die, that’s how you and I will be. That’s how you and I will be.”
In memory of Grant Everett Crowl: June 21, 1954-September 24, 2021
