Mama and Elvis

As I'm sure all of you know, yesterday was the 31st anniversary of the king's "death". I know this simply because my mother has reminded me every August 16th that I can remember that "Today is the day Elvis died".

I also get a yearly reminder on January 8 that "today is Elvis' birthday".

What can I say? My mom loves the king.

This year was particularly poignant because my parents took a trip to Flat Rock, North Carolina to watch the Elvis show at the local community theatre.

"Maybe they'll do something special since it is the day Elvis died," she said when I reminded her of the significance of the date. "I didn't even think about what day it was when I bought the tickets," she said with contrition in her voice.

I can't even fully explain my mom's love for Elvis except that she was 25 when he died, and I can only guess that she was truly in love with the man.

When I was in middle school, we went to Memphis, Tennessee, and of course, we HAD to go to Graceland. I'll admit that it was a really neat place, and while we were there, my mom bought this bright pink, plastic cup with the word "ELVIS" across the side.

She still uses that cup. "I like the handle," my mom swears, but I think she still uses it because it says Elvis on the side.

You can't even tell what the word is, but we all know. Every year at Christmas, we swear we're going to get her a new cup, but I don't think she would use it.

To top it off, today we were at her house for lunch, and she had Elvis music playing in the background while she fixed lunch.

"Is that in tribute to the king," I asked.

"No!" she said emphatically, "It's just cooking music."

But we all know the truth.

Long live the king!