My grandfather, Basil Massiah, was the smartest man I know. He would sit me down for hours, before I was even in elementary school, and teach me about flora and fauna, and the Serengeti and all the places all over the world.
I used to cry my ass off to make it stop. Like a dramatic anguished cry that may or may not have had the word Lucifer thrown in there a few times. Begging my mother, grandmother, or aunts to save me and let me watch Power Rangers or Doug. When he passed away, I sat up in bed one night, sobbing alone, and begging God for one more lesson from him. I would give anything to learn just one more thing.
Never let anyone tell you God doesn't answer prayers.
As we drove up the Ngorongoro Crater, our Safari leader, Tommie, aka Tiger (I obviously didn't call him Tommie) said that this has the largest variety of fauna and flora together in the world. Suddenly, I felt my grandfather. All the things he had taught me about, all the things I didn't give a damn about when I was younger, but would pay my last dime to hear him talk about, I was surrounded by. He brought me here. I knew it. I wondered if he was proud. Or if he saw it from heaven...
So here I am, in a safari jeep with 5 co-workers, choking back sobs of mourning for my favorite teacher. I was heartbroken that I when I return home, I wouldn't be able to show him pictures. See his sly smile when I told him stories. Hear his excitement over being the first one to return to Africa after our ancestors were snatched from our motherland
but that's a different post. Then, a gentle but obvious wave of relief came. He probably didn't want me to embarrass myself in front of my coworkers. I kinda just knew he had *already* been here. He probably had walked through the crater, identifying all the species he had read about in the encyclopedia, which he had read every volume of, cover to cover, so many times, that he actually rewrote them. All. And at that moment, he came back, so we could see them, together. I could almost hear him saying "She She, look at this one". I don't think I ever thanked God so hard before in my life.
In the midst of all my emo, I got curious. "Tiger, how did the crater get here?" The crater used to be a volcano that erupted twice. The first time using almost all its lava. The second erupting so much it gave everything it had left, and collapsed in. It was once higher than Kilimanjaro. Out of the chaos, a new way of life and beauty was formed. At this point, God and Basil were showing off.
No one could have imagined the amazing outcome of the terror of a collapsing volcano. That animals and people alike would call this new place home. That an animated documentary would come from it and be named The Lion King (trust me, it's a documentary). That a girl from the BX prayers would be answered looking at some zebra.
Moral of the story: Sometimes the plans change. Don't let that change the goal. Be amazing in everything you do.
