"Shirley" #1 (From Vickie Cristiani)

!cid_X_MA1_1271632561@aol, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Last week Carin and a friend visited the park where Shirley, the last surviving elephant of the Cristiani herd, is living out her final years. Carin says she appears healthy and butterball fat as ever. She spends most of the day in the water hole, where she thrives in sunlit glory. God love her, by all reports, she's doing remarkably well for her age (late 60's, our best guess) and enjoys being a loner and being independent as ever. Daddy and the her departed teammates (Christy, Carrie, Babe, and Emma) must be smiling down at the very sight of her as they marvel at the courageous way she is dealing with her retirement from circus life ... without the companionship of those who loved her most. Vickie