[jdviole2]

Helena loved to visit zoos. We tried to see the zoo in any city we visited. We saw the LA the San Diego the Little Rock, and the Henry Doorly zoo (in Omaha NE). She didn't have any special animals, she loved seeing them all. She did find some she really attached herself to though. In Omaha they have a walk thru rain forest. There are two levels an upper level looking down on the animals and a main walk thru at ground level. Of course all the animals are behind descrete screens or across moats so that you don't have access to them. While we were on the main level walk she stopped, with her mouth wide open. When I looked where she was pointing I saw a Golden Lion Tamarin clinging to a tree trunk just off the main trail, not behind glass or screen. (By the way the trees are made of wire mesh and concrete and painted to resemble trees. You can't tell the difference) Tamarin's are small primates. The Golden Lion Tamarin is aptly named. It has a mane around its neck and looks like a small male lion. She didn't try to pet it or anything just admired it. When we got to the end of the trail we found a docent and told her about seeing the tamerin. She told us that they couldn't keep him in his enclosure. No matter how they secured the door (short of a padlock) he would figure out how to open the door. She asked us if he had bothered us or rushed us. We told her no and she said as far as she knew he never had bothered any guests. Helena talked about that many times after that and always when the subject of zoo's came up she brought out that story. In the different zoo's we visited she was able to get close to many animals, apes, Orangutan's, lions, tigers, and Giraffe's. Again in Omaha she got to feed a Giraffe. They were in an outside enclosure and would come up to the fence and stick their heads over. She got a handful of grass and held it out and the Giraffe took it from her hand. I found out later that when she was a girl the family visited a zoo in Chicago and she got to pet a Giraffe's tongue. It was a lot of fun just watching her interact with the animals. She looked like a little girl, her eyes wide open and bright, and a huge grin on her face. She never refused a trip to the zoo. In her last month alive we were planning things to do and the one thing she mentioned was that she wanted to go to the zoo again. Of course, she never made it. I'm not sure if I could go to a zoo anymore. I'm afraid all I would see would be her and not the animals. I must have some pictures of her somewhere with the animals but I haven't found them yet. I do have a picture of her and the giraffe when she was a kid and am posting that as my first picture of today. She would have been about 8 when that picture was taken. The second picture is yet another Helena resting on the trail picture. Probably from the early 80's. The next picture shows another clothed shot from one of her nude photo sessions. This would have been in 1975. Next another of the pictures taken by Helena's dad in 1970 from her graduation shoot. A word about those pictures. I have been unable to find the negatives for those shots. The scans are from very small 2 X 3 inch prints. He used very heavy paper and they are badly curled and creased. I took out the curl with heavy weights on top during the scanning but can not do much with the creases. The next picture is another of his shots of her from late 1973. If you look close you can see her engagement ring. I didn't have time to buy one before I returned to Naples so I bought one there. It is a 1/2 carat diamond solitare in a twisted european setting. I bought it on the Nato Base in Naples. When we went in to get it sized it drew quite a bit of attention from the jeweler. She told him where I bought it. He pulled me aside and asked what I had payed for it. When I told him, all he would say was that I should get it insured for 5 times that amount. The last picture is another one taken before we went out (sometime in 1975 or 6).