~ Never Forgotten

Growing up, I had a love of two things ~ books and music. The love of books came from my mom and the love of music, from my dad. When I was in Oklahoma City in June, I told my mom that I have 4,000 songs in my iTunes library and I blame my dad for the fact that I'm a music whore.

I had many 'loves' where music was concerned. I loved Donny Osmond and thought that every time he sang "Puppy Love", he was singing to me and me only. I remember the year I wanted the purple bedroom, my tribute to Donny. But my favorite of all time ~ Elvis. Seriously, how could a girl not love Elvis? The voice, the eyes, the hips and the way he moved them......

One Christmas, my gift from my parents were tickets to see Elvis in concert ~ December 27, 1976 in Wichita, Kansas. I was 16 years old and a junior in high school and to this day, that is the gift that I treasure the most. Yeah, I still have my concert ticket stub, along with a bunch of other Elvis mementos.

Listening to Elvis or watching his movies is one thing. Watching him in person, on a stage, is something entirely different. Remember seeing clips of the Beatles and the way the girls would scream, cry and swoon? That was me with Elvis. I screamed 'til I was hoarse. I cried for the pure joy of being there. And I swear I damn near fainted when he sang, "Fever." Admittedly, he wasn't the Elvis of days gone by. He was overweight and probably high as a kite on drugs. But you know what? I didn't care. Nobody cared. We were there, listening to a legend croon, listening to him mesmerize a crowd and watching him wiggle those hips. And let me just say that even then, the man could still move.

Like most people, I still remember the day I found out Elvis died. I remember where I was and who told me (thanks, mom) and like most people, I'll probably never forget. I couldn't believe that I had seen him on stage just 8 months before and now he was dead. I was 16 and at the time, had a hard time wrapping my head around that one.

Thanks to my parents, I have a gift that will last me a lifetime ~ the gift and pure exhilaration of seeing him in concert.

Elvis Aaron Presley ~ January 8th, 1935 - August 16th, 1977