Elvis - A Lighted Candle

[Ingrid]

Dear Wanda,

because of his stardom Elvis wouldn´t easily permit anyone to get close to him emotionally, right? Only very few people know the real Elvis.

On the other hand his mom said once, that she wished he´d be more careful who he was friends with, it´s in June Juanico´s book who spent the summer of 56 with Elvis and his family.

Why did Elvis let Larry Geller, a real friend, go without protesting? Because he wanted to make Priscilla happy?

He knew who his real friends were!

I´m curious what he was looking for in the few people with whom he let his guard down, other than unconditional loyalty.

You were his "listening post"!


Thanks, Wanda!

Ingrid

[Amanda Viola]

Welcome to ELC Forum, Ingrid! I'm sure you'll enjoy being part of this group of friends, as much as I do. Much to learn ones from the others and from Elvis!

(Wanda, excuse me. I just wished to say Hello! to our new friend.)

[Ingrid]

Thanks for the welcome, Amanda! I´ve already learned so much from Wanda and everyone on this site, since I depend on getting my information on Elvis from stuff that I read and hear. It´s not always easy for me to put the pieces together as an "outsider" and I´m glad I found Wanda and her forum! Sometimes I´m just guessing and speculating only to find out that I was totally wrong!.

Talk to you soon!

Ingrid

[Wanda June Hill]

Hi Ingrid! Welcome to ELC posting!

Elvis just wanted to find the good in people, he was too trusting and he had to learn the hard way many times...but even then he tried to excuse those he wanted to keep as friends. I wondered what he looked for also-never really figured it out as he was diverse in his choices. I know some of what he looked for in his female friends, because he talked about that pretty openly. It was about two years before he opened up and was more than "casual" in talking to me-and then when he began having family problems I guess he needed someone he didn't have to "see every day " or who was not "involved" with his career, life, etc:. And of course, he expected loyalty above everything in that regard. He had many people in his career who took advantage of him in the early days especially, people he really didn't know but thought he did and then found out differently and it did "harden" him some, but according to his family, his Aunts etc: and even his Uncle noticed, he kind of "closed up" when his mom died so suddenly-she had been his "rock" and he always blamed himself saying he should have known, should have seen her pain, and that he wasn't a "good son" in that he didn't take care of her-he was too busy worrying about his own wants and failed to see or understand her "needs". I feel that he never got over that feeling---and never got over his own need for her understanding and unconditional love for him.
He said she sacraficed for him from the time he was born and before; there wasn't enough time, he didn't do all the things he wanted to do for her, the places he wanted to take her etc:...And he lived in fear that his dad would die and "leave me here, on my own". He knew his fans loved him, they never left him-not even when he wasn't "perfect". That kept him going out there, he loved being with people whom he "could trust" and he trusted his fans...they "never let me down." wjh

[Ingrid]

Hi there,

that´s actually what my question should have been: Who took care of Elvis after his mom died?

I come to belief that if his mom hadn´t died that early, it would have changed the course of history...

I would like to share something with you that I found in June Juanico´s book "In the Twilight of Memory", she spent the summer of 56 with Elvis and his family. I love that book not only because she wrote it entirely herself, but also because it´s one of the few records of this time, and she writes very lovingly about his mom, who she called "Lovie". And she was the one who introduced him to "The Prophet".

"... It was obvious that he [Elvis] was the most important thing in her life, even more so than her husband. Elvis thrived on his mother´s attention, and was constantly making her feel needed and appreciated. He would never just say "Thank you" to her without touching her hand or face. Her presence alone seemed to have a calming effect on him.
Several articles written after his death referred to Elvis as a "wimp", a "mama´s boy", tied to her apron-strings. Nothing could have been fruther from the truth. Elvis was a loving, devoted son, trying to make up for the hardships his parents had suffered in their lives. If this makes a man a wimp, then the world should be full of wimps."

I´m really grateful that hers was one of the first books I read on Elvis, it´s filled with love and female insight, just like WR,E. And gives a pretty good picture of what Elvis was like as a very young man, in my opinion he didn´t change much in many ways later in life. I might put up some more quotes in other sections of the forum to discuss, since I´m not an original source myself, that´s basically all I can do to contribute.

What it comes down to is the question "Could he have been saved"? And still be around today... he had so much potential and touched people in a way that went beyond the usual celebrity thing, on a deep spiritual level.

Ingrid

[Wanda June Hill]

I've never read her book though I have read things from it such as what you have posted and I thought that she was very truthful and loving and that she understood Elvis pretty well. He should have married her or Anita Wood, but then that was not the "plan" for his life and I guess he had to go through all the things he did emotionally that hurt him, so he could do the things he did-reach so many, many people and still is doing that. It was something that he needed so he could learn to share and give and keep on giving and what he was born to do; he believed he was doing what he was here for-it took a while for him to get to that point in his thought process but finally he did accept that he was here to do what he did-though he wanted to make good "fims" more than he wanted to do live concerts constantly...he would have enjoyed doing the films and then doing a FEW concerts in special areas and probably alot of gospel shows.
Had he lived, I thnk that would have happened but as I said, it wasn't "part of the plan" for his life, I guess. It is so "normal" when you think over the number of people who have made great impacts upon the people on earth-they number in the few, those that remain promient and are known world wide. Elvis is in good standing to be there-and he was one of the last ones in our lifetime so far anyway-I think he'll be there forever, as long as earth exists. And I am going to look for June's book-if I can get on Amazon-so far it won't come up for me so I don't even know if a book sold this past month! They sell slowly but are still going out to those who want one. And the point was-to make them available and they are. Thanks Ingrid for posting that-it's been a long while since I read anything she's written. He liked her a lot, in fact when I asked him if he could count the times his heart was broken by a lady he named her as one of the first to "rough up ma heart feathers a little bit" but he said he "got over it soon enough". He told me he had had a girl f riend named June when we first met-but he didn't discuss any thing about their relationship other than saying she "roughed" him up a bit. His mother was upset more than he from the way he told it...she wanted him to go, fall on is knees and beg her to come back! But he went to Hollywood instead. Anita Wood was good for him too, but she didn't like his interest in Priscilla who she considered a "child" and Elvis didn't try to change her mind...he had that "feeling" he couldn't get rid of that came when he first laid eyes on Priscilla. He finally thought in 77 that it was Karma he felt...that they had to meet this time around etc:...kind of thing. Maybe so, to have Lisa Marie and her children? We shall see, and if I'm physically not here to "see it too" then I'll know anyway by then. Works out! wjh

[MaryInTheMorning]

Hi there Ingrid and please allow me to welcome you again to ELC!! Like dear Amanda said, this place is filled with a great group of people that I feel blessed to be able to call my friends and I'm so glad to have you join us too! Thank you so much for sharing that excerpt from June's book with us, and sweet Wanda thank you so much for your very thoughtful and insightful answers to Ingrid's questions. I haven't read June's book yet but I am very much looking forward to doing so in the near future as it sounds like it was a very nice account of her time with Elvis.

[Ingrid]

Right, Wanda, the plan... I believe too that our lives are planned out by something that´s bigger than we and I think we all have different names for it: God, Mother Nature, the Universe, whatever. And there´s not so much we can do to influence that plan. Everything that´s supposed to happen, happens.

Anyway the most important thing is to appreciate what Elvis did in his short life, enjoy his talent and be inspired by him.

But it´s also nice to get some answers on why certain things happend in his life, and to put a lid on them, too.

Thank you!

Ingrid

[Rainbow Light]

AMEN to all above, Ingrid! Totally agree!!

Bringing this thread back up for anyone who may have missed.