Elvis - A Lighted Candle

[atlantis]

Hi all! I'm soooo sorry I've been away for so long. All of you are always close to my mind and heart. But I have a few days off so I thought I would catch up.

I'm going on the Elvis Cruise out of New Orleans to Cozumel on Aug. 28th to Sept. 1st. It's hosted by Jerry Schilling. The TCB Band (whom I love), the Jordanaires, and the Imperials will be on board. As will Joe Guercio, Ronnie McDowell and Ruby Wilson, of Beale Street fame. We leave four weeks from today! I am absolutely beside myself! There are still tickets if anyone is interested. Go to www.theelviscruise.com. I would give ANYTHING to meet any of y'all on board! It's on the Carnival Fun Ship Fantasy.

Besides that, there's nothing too new to report. I've been thinking alot of my stepdad lately, whom I lost on 12-24-06. He was terminally ill and we had to watch him die for 7 years. It's an experience that changed me forever. But I know he is whole and happy again. But in the days right after he died, I played "Bridge Over Troubled Water" over and over again. I'm telling God's honest truth when I say it got me through that first month. I know without a shadow of a doubt Elvis was laying himself down for me to ease my pain. He still does.

It's late and I'm sure I have more to blab about, but I better hit the sack. Oh, I read Sonny West's new book. It was really good and I emailed him and he emailed back. He's a sweet man.

Take care and may God and the Universe bless you all!
Michelle

[Blue Moon]

Glad to hear from you again Atlantis!!!
How exiting you are going on an Elvis themed cruise! Please tell us all about it when you get back.
I'm so sorry to hear of your stepdad's death but pleased to know that Elvis' Bridge Over Troubled Water helped you through it.
Thanks for your brief review of Sunny's book. I have not read it. I was a bit concerned Sonny may not have been aware of all of Elvis' medical conditions and that he may have made it sound like Elvis was taking pills purely for emotional reasons. What are your thoughts on this?

[atlantis]

I will for sure let you all know how the cruise goes!

The last thing I would ever want to do is offend anyone on this forum. Y'all are the only people on the planet who seem to feel that special way I do about Elvis. While I do believe Elvis had physical problems which he treated with pills, I also believe he had demons which drove him to use them to block out pain, the emotional and mental kind. And I don't believe there is one ounce of shame in saying that simply b/c I've been there before. Luckily, by the grace of God, I'm still here. Sonny knew all of th pain Elvis was in. But the book was not about all of that. It was a tale of his close friend and all the crazy, loving, wonderful times they shared together. I do understand why he and Red wrote their book, "Elvis: What Happened?". They were trying to save their best friend's life. Everyone should have those kinds of friends. I had a cousin who killed himself last year. I wish we could have all done something extreme, like an intervention. Then maybe he would still be with us.

Like I said, the last thing I want to do is offend anyone. But I'm going to be honest....I believe Elvis had a drug problem for various reasons. But never in a million years would Ijudge him for it. Actually, it makes him more human. And more importantly, I believe he knew there was a problem, on some level. It was just too late.

I hope I'm still welcome on this forum. If not, I understand. I'll just watch from a far.

[Blue Moon]

Of course, Atlantis, you are still welcome on this forum. We all don't agree on everything yet try to be respectful & kind to each other.

I did not know Elvis, but going by what Wanda & others have said, Elvis was down to prespribed prespription drug levels at the time of his death. He died of a heart attack, not a prespription drug overdose as is commonly believed. However, in the mid 70's, as I understand it Elvis was taking too many sleeping pills & pain killers, probably due to the pain from his divorce. Yet on his own, he got back down to prescriped by the last year of his life. So I do not think The What Happened book was necessary. And to air a friend's dirty laundry for public viewing doesn't seem justifiable to me, even if they thought they were helping him. But I really wonder if it was more about revenge since Sonny, Red, & Dave were just fired by Vernon & wrote the book shortly thereafter. Do you suppose they would have written the book if they were still working for Elvis at the time? I doubt it. Still, Sonny may have truly convinced himself he did the right thing to sleep easier at night. It must be tough to live with possibly betraying a friend. I don't harbor anger against Sonny, however, and wish the best for him.

Maybe Wanda can comment more on this subject, as she knew Elvis & could offer more insight. But Atlantis I appreciate you offering your opinion. Open discussion is how we get to the truth.

[Wanda June Hill]

Hi Atlantis, there will always be a welcome here for you- Yes Elvis had physical aliments, yes he hurt for real physically and emotionally and he was under TREMENDOUS pressure for 20 some odd years not to mention the poverty of early ones. I do not like Sonny for the part he played in Elvis' last months of life- if they had his best interest at heart etc:...then they should have NOT added to the pressure and tired to get him out of the controling influences he was held capitive to and I don't mean pills- I mean people! They were just as guilty as anyone because they too did the drugs, they were so bombed they didn't have a clue what was going on half the time- I SAW with my own eyes and heard things from those guys- they had their own best interest in mind and if his father had not taken the advice of the lawyers who were telling him and Elvis to distance themselves from those guys who had caused the legal issues by their own actions/admissions then they would NEVER have written that book to "save him"...etc:. But that is for everyone to think about and deicde- Sonny has done too little too late- but thank heaven he has not trashed him further - Elvis would have hired them back... but he was told not to do that due to the law suits settled- it would look as if he condoned what they did etc:...and it was going to cost him a fortune- NOT them. They lost their jobs...but Elvis DID NOT know they hadn't been given what he told his father to give them- his dad let him think he had... Elvis was trying his best to live up to what he had to do- he was docked for not working when he was sick...he paid the guys out of his own pockets at those times, he made up the shows, sick or not- so they'd get paid BECAUSE he didn't have the money to pay them! The colonel saw to that- Anyway, Sonny hasn't full knowledge of what went on, I don't either, but I think I heard through Elvis more of the real story than what they knew/know and it still hurts me when I recall how hurt Elvis was by what they did- he couldn't believe they would, he had faith right to the release of the book that they would not trash him or tell bad things. I didn't think it was too awful, but to Elvis it was so painful because they were his friends, people he'd cared for, treated like family and loved dearly- especially RED who is the only one who has not gone on flapping about drugs etc:... You know, Elvis took drugs so he COULD do his job... they took drugs because they COULD- I hope for Sonny's sake that he has asked forgiveness of God and Elvis for his disloyalty in the "name of love and caring"...because he needs that for his own peace of mind and heart. Elvis would forgive and said that he did forgive them and he didn't want people to think ill of his "boys", his "friends" - I can say that I do not have that kind of forgiveness yet...but I'm working on it.
I wish the best for Sonny West and all of them... they live with things that I would think be real hard to handle. That's "punishment enough" in my opinion and that's what Elvis said too.
But Atlantis, everyone has to make their own judgement call, and I don't hold any ill will toward any of them... we here at ELC would like to see Sonny and the others at peace with all of it- Elvis surely has peace now and he was willing while alive, to forgive. I was stunned by his attitude- and humbled that he could be so loving and kind, understanding and patient considering what the media and press was going to do to him- and did, thanks to them. The world still believes that Elvis was a raving drug addict who was stoned all the time- it's a shame that that is his legacy with so many- The guy I knew wasn't stoned all the time, sure he took sleeping pills, stimulants and pain meds...but under the circumstances I don't think any body would have done much better- especially not one of those guys! Or me!
Great to have you back, please feel free to post anything any time, it's okay to express an opinion- even if we disagree, we don't judge and jump up and down, calling each other names etc: like I've heard some sites do... that's silly. We are all different, and it's a joyous thing!
Love to you, Atlantis!

wjh

[Blue Moon]

Atlantis, you may be interested to read a new book which has come out called The Shattering of a Myth by Darrin Lee. Lee has done a lot of investigation & research into proving that Elvis was not at all stoned at the Desert Storm concert.

Here is a link to some discussion on it and where you can order it:

elvislightedcan-about3102.html

[atlantis]

testing 123...I have typed two replies and they aren't coming up. I'm logged in when I do it then I hit review and it says I must be logged in to do that. I am mad....I'm logged in right now. Let's see what happens.

[atlantis]

For some reason, it won't let me review my post but it will let me just post. So here goes my third message...

I do recommend Sonny's book for the great stories. I do not, however, agree with everything he says. He and the other guys (except Elvis) did not care for Larry Geller at all. I adore Larry. Have you guys read his new book about Elvis? Fascinating. I think it's called "Leaves Of Elvis' Garden". Read it if you haven't. It arrived already signed by Larry. What a treasure.

And about Sonny...he did say in his book that he became a born-again Christian in 1990 and that he had a lot of pain that he deals with through prayer due to things that happened over the years. What he is speaking of, I don't know. But I guess that's between him and whomever...

And I did read the book they wrote in '77. It was harsh and I didn't like it one bit. But after losing my dear, beloved cousin to suicide, I do understand now that desperate times call for desperate measures. I wish we could have all been more desperate in our bid to try and save my cousin. Hindsight is truly 20/20. So I try and refrain from judging the book and those who wrote it. Mabye now some of the guys think they could have gone about it a different way. I do hate the fact that there are people who think Elvis was just a druggie. That raises my hackles every time. I know how very, very easy it is to turn to drugs, alcohol or whatever to numb sharp debilitating pain, no matter where that pain comes from. And who on this planet knew what it felt like to be Elvis? My heart breaks for him just thinking about how he must have felt emotionally and mentally, not to mention physically. But I do know for sure he is whole and at peace now. I firmly believe that is why God brought him Home...He knew our boy couldn't do it on earth. He needed help of another caliber.

I'm rambling so I'll go now. I hope this post turns up. Love you guys! If there are mistakes, forgive me....I'm not going to take the chance of reviewing this and losing my third post.

3 weeks and 6 days til my cruise! What on earth will I do for all that time????!!!

[73smile]

There is always room for hope that Sonny and the others do feel responsibility for not protecting Elvis. They were atypical in the roles of making certain no one could hurt Elvis when they worked for him.
I have not read either of the books that Atlantis read and I do not think I will. I believe the one in 1977 was written out of SPITE and NOT to help Elvis as the authors said.
Maybe the book written by Sonny may be because he wants to milk every possible dime from his association with Elvis Presley.
No one on ELC, to my knowledge judges any post written by another member. I certainly do not have an agenda to judge you. Reading the books is done by choice and that is what happens in life.
When Vernon fored Sonny et al out he did so because Sonny was costing so much money in regard to the injuries he gave to people while "protecting" Ellvis. If Sonny wanted to protect Elvis I just have to wonder WHY Sonny did not do so when he first was hired by Elvis. Instead he and others kept drugs going to Elvis and those drugs weakened Elvis' precious and generous heart.
In February of this year we also had a suicide in our family--my youngest brother who would have been 50 in 12 more days killed himself because he felt he had no options left. It is difficult to understand destructive behavior that results in an individual taking his or her own life. Time heals all things and time is helping me and the rest of my family to become less angry----a typical reaction by those left behind--- that our brother came to none of us to try to stop him. Instead he made a decision to die and as each day passes the hurt is weaker and the love for the man he was grows to enable us to replace the bad memories associated with February 21, 2008.
73smile

[Amanda Viola]

Suicide is a choice of a soul. It causes much pain to the ones who loved that person and that are left behind. Of course, we can't measure the profound meaning of that action for the evolutive path of all the ones involved. Yet, to overcome that suffering is one opportunity to transcend ourselves, focussing into LOVE, as you are already doing, Marjorie. And I congratulate you for it with all my heart.


Atlantis,

WELCOME BACK!