Music. The voice that has the ability to speak across generations. Isn't is strange to think ... a man who rose to fame half a century ago still touches so many through his music, and even movies, today. I never got to personally watch Elvis on TV, in concert, or even hear him live on the radio. My parents did. They were fans and still are. As a matter of fact, Dad would always let me pick out an Elvis movie to watch with my friends when I hosted slumber parties as a little girl. Without fail, I would pick Tickle Me. Some of my earliest memories of The King are the aforementioned movie, a handful of his songs, and mostly other singers singing about him. Tricia Yearwood (Wrong Side of Memphis), ZZ Top (Viva Las Vegas), and Alannah Myles (Black Velvet), just to name a few.
Some Elvis memories are more tender than others. Take my husband, for example. He served in Afghanistan with a guy who was quite possibly The King's biggest fan in the Army. This soldier's name: SGT Michael K. Ingram.
We came to the unit late having arrived in August, with a new baby in tow. Two weeks after he in processed, my husband received expedited orders to Afghanistan. You see, the unit, which had deployed in June, and had already sustained heavy losses. So off my husband went to the desert. He and SGT Ingram wasted no time in becoming, what they call in the Army, Battle Buddies. Two peas in a camouflaged pod.
Michael LOVED Elvis and because of this love, everyone within hearing distance was fortunate enough to listen to any given Elvis hit before a mission. After a mission. Before bunking down for the night. And oh boy, did he sing along!
Check out the link above and you'll see that my husband's sweet friend was killed in action over there in the sands of the Middle East. I remember how Ingram would save the webcam for my husband once he finished talking to his loved ones so that my husband could have some face time with me. In this family, at least between my husband and myself, Elvis memories and Ingram memories are interwoven ... thus making them even more special. I wish I had gotten to meet him in person. It would have been an absolute honor.
Care to share some of your Elvis memories? We'd love to hear 'em!
Elvis was an icon. He hated the movies that we loved. Life is strange. I was thrilled when my best friend's older sister gave me her ticket to see him in Lubbock, Tx many, many years ago. Dear, sweet, Connie let me sit on the floor with her sister, Tonya, while she relegated herself to the cheap seats, alone. I'll never forget seeing him, thanks to her.
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