Bff "Elvis"

Elvis   ♥

No pictures and no music links...just ♥.

As many of you, my loyal and precious readers (both of you) know, I am a gigantic and fanatic Elvis Presley fan. I own every song he recorded and I have duplicates of several. I have a lot of his movies, though not all of them. I have a few of his concerts on tape and CD and I do now and then, just have an all Elvis all day kind of day.

I once had an Elvis room in my home. Okay twice. I had a large collection of memorabilia that rivaled some of the museums I have visited. I still have a porcelain Graceland (his home) and have visited the real one in Memphis 4 times. I have the Elvis and Barbie dolls, some beautiful music boxes and have sold a good deal of the other fun stuff I used to display in my room. It was fun for a long time, but I was tired of it and kept only the things that I really love to have near me. Some special things that one day my grand daughters might like to share among themselves. That would make me very happy.

I not only think his voice was perfection, I love his gospel songs and the fact that contrary to what many people believe about his life, he was a deeply spiritual man. He believed he answered to God and that he would be judged. I listen to his gospel music often and sing along because it makes me feel so peaceful.

A love song sung by Elvis is a LOVE song. I have so many favorites that listing them would be ridiculous. I am particularly obsessed with “The Hawiian Wedding Song”, for two reasons. I love Hawaii, I love “Blue Hawaii” (one of his movies, for those of you who are uninformed) and both reasons make that song so romantic and so meaningful to me. Mike and I have spent several anniversaries in Hawaii and have always managed to hear someone do that song while there or we have played it ourselves in our hotel or car. It is a beautiful and loving song. “I do, love you, with all my heart.” The ending of the song.

I have several books about him. “Elvis and Me” by Priscilla Presley…very revealing and very good read for any fan. The complete book of his movies is another I love to read. The movies he was so disgusted with making because he wanted to be a real actor in a great movie, turn out to be some fluff and a few very good movies. “Blue Hawaii”, “Stay Away Joe”, “Charro”. “Love Me Tender” to name just a few of the really good ones. He made a very good western star as an Indian, Half-breed or cowboy.  And may I add, he made a very nice Hawaiian boy. J

Many people think Elvis was just a drug addicted waste and basically killed himself by overdosing.

The doctor who provided his basic care was called on the carpet but not prosecuted because Elvis got pills from several sources and since no one told him he couldn’t, no one told him he couldn’t do anything. He was Elvis and he could get what he wanted when he wanted it. I believe, he never thought he was endangering his life or his health. They were prescription drugs and I think he believed them to be safe. It is important to remember this is a southern boy with little education and scholastic endeavors were not his strong point. He didn’t drink and smoked only a short time because he felt they weren’t healthy. He practiced martial arts and earned several belts in Karate to keep in shape and to protect himself. In later years, he became an expert marksman for the same reason, self protection. He was a bit paranoid, but also had fans chasing him and hanging at his front gate relentlessly, so perhaps it wasn’t really paranoia.

This man lived a big life. He was rich beyond his imagination and could buy whatever he saw that he liked. He did that. To marry the girl he fell in love with he managed to get her moved into his home before the wedding, with her parent’s approval even though she was still a teenager, at the time. They shared a bed, but did not have sex until their wedding night. Priscilla became pregnant immediately and gave birth to their only child 9 months later on February 1, 1968. They seldom had sex after her birth. Elvis had a problem with intercourse with a mother, speaking volumes about his mother issues. He loved his mother more than anything or anyone and her death changed him and also removed his touchstone. She kept him grounded, without her, he was wild and careless. Priscilla left when Lisa Marie was a mere 2 years old. Elvis loved her until the day he died, but they never reconciled or even came close. They remained friends always.

There is no singing voice before or since that will immediately stop me mid sentence, to hear, to listen and to love this man and his amazing talent. He was a beautiful young man and a bloated and drugged middle aged man who still managed to look incredibly sexy and confident on stage, though he never felt confident in performance. He continuously wondered why people paid to hear him sing. He loved it, but never knew how incredible he was. He was a humble man, contrary to public opinion.

“Aloha from Hawaii” was a concert he did in the seventies for charity and now most fans agree, it was without question his best concert performance ever. He sang nearly every hit song he had in that show and each was done to perfection. He was heavy, he was sweating profusely and I still watch it and feel like a teenager watching her idol all over. The man is a one of a kind. Never before and never since, absolutely no one compares with his success or his talent.

A true national treasure. Southern born. Rags to riches. Served in the Army. Loved his God. Became a star far too quickly and was never handled correctly. He was used and marketed and unfortunately never lead and guided.

His run here was short, but the man lived. He lived and he left a legacy for my children, their children and all generations to come. His music is forever and my adoration of him eternal.

Rest in peace my inspirational singer. Thank you for the gift of my lifetime, the music of my life.

Jo

Love Song

When I think of Love Songs, 

I always think first of ♥ Elvis ♥ singing 

The Hawaiian Wedding Song from Blue Hawaii. 

It is so beautiful and no one, that's right, NO ONE does it as well.  
I can see him singing to his brand new wife on the raft floating on the blue Hawaiian waterway.  

We have been in Hawaii for four of our anniversaries and have had this song played and/or sung for us at three of those. It is the single most romantic song I have ever heard. Although Elvis sang many romantic tunes better than anyone else, this one has always been my favorite.
I can believe he was singing it to me for us on our wedding day. "Blue skies of Hawaii smile on this our wedding day."  We were married in March and the blue skies of Hawaii were no doubt smiling on our wedding day. Here in Michigan, as I recall, it wasn't sunny or bright. Then again, I was severely hung over as was my groom, so maybe the sun was out, maybe not.


We are just a few days from our 30th (March 12) and again I will remember what it was about this man that made me so certain he was a keeper. I will again wonder why he fell in love with me. I brought so much to the table! Two kids he would help me raise. A house in much need of an update, which I had purchased from FHA after a repo. It was not in good cosmetic condition, but structurally, it was sound and big. I loved that house right up until our kids all moved out and we were empty nesters in an 1800 square foot house. Way too much cleaning and heating and cooling for two people and a dog. But I digress, how unusual for me, huh?  I had a pretty good job, but didn't make a ton of money. I had a car and a car payment. I didn't have much debt and I was paying all my bills on time. He came with kids, unpaid bills, a good job that paid well, a lot of love and the kind of devotion you usually only get from your dog. The man, inexplicably loved me unconditionally. I have a much better mate than he has. I am a much better organizer than he is. He is so easy to please, it takes no effort. I am a far better cook. He is a far better eater. 


Life has handed us many hurdles and many blessings. We have lived through all of those and laughed a great deal, cried a little and been grateful for it all. We are not always happy. We argue, now and then. Rarely. We disagree about stupid stuff and agree about important stuff. He is bull headed and I am...well, um, ahhhh, errrrr, bull headed. That can be a problem. It isn't. If it's important to him, he wins. If it's important to me, I win. If it's not really a big deal either way, I win.  Works for me.


We seldom watch TV together. He loves sports, westerns and a few cop shows. I like sitcoms, reality TV and all the cop shows.  We watch Blue Bloods, NCIS, Hawaii Five-O and Law and Order together. The occasional western movie because I do enjoy them now and then. He has a man cave, sports arena, whatever, in the downstairs family room. A big TV and 5 reclining chairs. I have a big screen and 4 reclining seats in the living room. Seems fair and it works for us.  It's all about fairness and equality, right?  


I know why I married him and I know why it has worked all these years, but I still don't really know why he chose me nor do I know why he stayed through some of the tougher times. He sees no reason to talk about those things and I guess I'm okay with that because I'm still here waiting for him to come home each day. Yep, I'm a talker and he's a listener. That might be the key, except he doesn't really listen. He's a man. He appears to be listening, but no, he hears very little. Maybe that's best. I say a lot, but maybe only a minuscule amount is worth hearing. He knows that apparently. 


Happy Anniversary to my big ole hunk o' love, Mikey. You really are the best and my last chance for romance! Oh, yeah! That's another thing we have in common.  :)

Thirty years of marital bliss!  That man is a saint, or thinks he is, anyway.  I just think he's my roomy.  ♥


"Now that we are one, Clouds won't hide the sun. Blue skies of Hawaii smile on this our wedding day.
I do, love you, with all my heart."


Jo

My Favorite Movie

I am not a giant movie buff, not by any means. The last movie I saw in the theater was either Titanic or Shrek, I'm not even sure.  But I do watch some on Sunday afternoons in the winter months on the great cable channels. A lot of westerns (Roomy is addicted) and I will watch any Elvis movie that's on. I really enjoy all of those.

As for a favorite movie, if I were forced at gunpoint to choose one, it would have to be  Blue Hawaii.  It is not only probably Elvis' best performance, it has music that I can sing along with and my favorite all time song, The Hawaiian Wedding Song.  The scenery is nice and I have actually frolicked in the bay where Elvis first donned his white very snug bathing suit coming directly from the airport upon his return to his home island following his Army stint.  He then played in the bay with his beautiful co-star, what's her name. (who cares?)  I walked in the same sand and I swam in the same water as Elvis. Very cool. Then he goes home to see his momma and daddy (very southern folk) and the story begins to unfold.

I have seen this movie many times, have it on VCR and DVD and I never get tired of seeing my idol as Chadwick the rich ex-service man trying to find his new life back home on the island.  It's a nice story, nothing deep, nothing socially redeeming, but a nice love story.  A story of a good man trying to do good things for people he loves. No one would even make this movie today; there's no nudity, no swearing, no blow 'em up scenes and it contains a lot of kissing and hugging with clothes on.  There's a lot of singing and dancing and silliness and I love it.

I would say if I had a second favorite, not saying I do, but if I did, it would be Dirty Dancing. Patrick Swayze.  Nuff said.

Jo

 

 

Judgment

This weeks prompt from GBE2 is "Judgment"  so here's my take.

Judgment is not supposed to be for us to dole out.  It is for God and God alone to judge our lives, our choices, our actions.  That is how it is supposed to be and I try not to judge others.  I try, but there are times I find myself decidedly judging people for their live style or their choices.  I really fight with myself about doing so because I don't want to be judged through someone else's eyes.  Do unto others...you know that one, right?  Judge not that ye be judged, right?  

The people I find myself judging are those who injure a child or neglect a child or those who cause pain to others just because they can.  I find myself discounting people who operate in a world where their wants and needs are more important than the wants and needs of someone else.  Selfishness is very hard for me to accept without judgment.  What kind of person deliberately causes pain and harm to another human, let alone a child, and somehow feels that it's okay because they wanted to, what?  What did they want to accomplish that in their mind makes it okay to damage another human to satisfy or advance themselves?  Or gain something they want or need.  It's very difficult for me to NOT judge these people as evil and a waste of our good air;  but I tell myself, "my job is to forgive them," if they have caused pain to me or mine, and pray for them.  If I have just read about them or the news told me of them, I just need to pray for them, not to judge them.  It's a process for me.

I also find myself judging people who use others.  I know in this life, at least, we cannot use others to their detriment and our gain without paying for that in one way or another at some point.  My grandmother told me when I was a little one that I should never try to get even with people because God's revenge is so much better than mine.  I believe that.  God evens things out in ways we would never think of on our own. I do remember that when I see a 'user' in action whether they are trying to use me or someone else, but I fight the urge to judge them as pitiful.  Instead, I need to just pray that someday they will see what they have done and repent.  Not something I easily believe will happen, but one can hope.

Otherwise, in my own life, I find judging unnecessary.  I love the diversity of human beings.  I embrace the idea that the world is filled with people who are so different than I and each of them make our world a happier and more productive place to live.  I love that we are all individually shaped into whatever we have become from whatever template God chose for each of us.  What we do with that template is so interesting and exciting. I love how people change because of their circumstances and their choices.  We become who we are because of where we've been and how we chose to handle each situation.  That is not to be judged, but admired.



It is NOT for us to judge, lest we be judged.  It is, however, for us to distance ourselves from those who cause harm, while we pray for their salvation.  It is a world which contains harmful and evil actions by people who chose that path.  It is also a world which contains saviors and friends and angels whom we may choose to keep close.  


I choose to seek those people out and hold them very close.   


:)  Jo

What Do You Love

BFF  prompt for today is What do you love?
 Easy-peasy one.


I love God.

I love summer.                                                          
I love babies.
I love dogs.
I love writing.
I love my life.
I love my husband.
I love my Momma.
I love my children.
I love my grandchildren.
I love my sister.
I love my brother.
I love my sisters-in-law.
I love my brothers-in-law.
I love my nieces.
I love my nephews.
I love my friends.
I love flowers.
I love driving.
I love road trips.
I love cruises.
I love Hawaii.
I love Arizona.
I love the Caribbean Islands.
I love cooking.
I love reading.
I love TV.
I love my computer.
I love my neighbors.
I love my little town.
I love a good steak.
I love my country.
I love being retired.
I love most of my memories.
I love most of my past.




And if you're still reading this, 
and aren't in any of the above categories, 
I love you, too.


<3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3