Remembering Elvis

Today is the anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. It’s just been a few days since Robin Williams died and because they were both celebrities that I admired and they both died too soon, I find myself wondering why I feel like I knew them when really I didn’t.

Why is it that every year on August 16th do I stop and remember The King?

Why do I feel sadness and loss for people I never met? I did see Elvis in concert in 1974, but you know what I mean. They were not personal friends. I didn’t talk to them on the phone or see them in church on Sundays. I didn’t know their families or their personal likes or dislikes. All I knew about them was what they chose to reveal to me via the media and that isn’t what you would call a personal relationship.

For me the answer is they are a part of my life history. I grew up listening to Elvis’s music. I went to everyone of his movies and adored them. Other than a boy in kindergarden named Billy, he was my first crush.

My children and my grandchildren will never understand the impact Elvis had on not just me, but our whole country. That makes me a little sad but it’s understandable. Every generation has its own celebrities that they identify with.

As for the day Elvis died, I was in my college dorm and I stopped what I was doing and cried.

And 37 years later I’m still remembering that day and how I felt to know “The King” was dead.