Thought I would post this here in case folks did not catch it in another thread. Thanks to Vera for providing the link.

http://www.essentialelvis.com/Interview ... rAlden.htm

Hi, Ginger made Elvis happy for quite a little while, and he did have a ring made for her using the stone from his TCB since the jeweler didn't have one that big when Elvis wanted it. He did give it to her and he may have at that time asked her to marry him-he wanted to get married, have more kids etc: and he thought right about then, he was going to win the battle with his health and he was trying to get off sleeping pills and pain killers. He was smitten with her-and he liked it for a short time. All I know is that when I asked him about all the rumors and so forth in 76 he said he wasn't going to get married and that he wasn't in love and that he knew now that what he thought he saw in Ginger was just wishful thinking and memories of the fun and good times he'd had with Priscilla and that a friend had called it to his attention that the two of them resembled each other quite a bit-even in personality. He also said he had not "slept with her" which was true to his routine with girls he might marry at a latter date. He joked about it, and though she was there alot and he knew her family etc; he had changed his mind or was slowing up on it. And then later, I believe he knew he wasn't going to live and he wouldn't have wanted to "rain on her parade" at all...so he wouldn't have told her anything. He was desperate and looking for something to help him cope. Now, Ed Parker told me that he and Ginger were not as close as they had been, and it was on Elvis' side...that he wasn't happy about certain things-he couldn't get them just right where he wanted them and so, not to look for any wedding plans to pop up anytime soon. That pretty much confired what I had heard from Elvis...so I don't know. He may have not said anything differently to Ginger, wanting her to be there, wanting her to be happy for as long as possible and he might not have paid off things as he'd promised because he "needed money" to get out of the hole he was stuck in...lots of money. He didn't have enough money to go paying for a house, etc: and wedding etc: when he owed so much money to the Col. and whomever. So I don't know. Ginger has been very consistent with Elvis' memory and keeping dignity in her relationship with him. She's been similiar to Linda in that regard and that's a good thing. I have to trust that what she says is what she believes and no doubt, what Elvis told her. However, I still have to believe Elvis' words as well...after all, he's the only one who could have made it happen and he's gone. I wished he would have married her, and that he could have had a family, more kids if he wanted and do the things he wanted, like play Europe in the places he wanted to work-without the Col. It is true he was going to clean house and get rid of lots of people who didn't deserve to be there-but that too, came too late. Not to rain on their parade, but I hope they get caught without umberellas and have to wade water to their necks-barefoot. WJH I posted or thought I did a bit earlier but it didn't show up so this is the second post and the first is a tad differently written. So if there are two similar, that's why.

I agree Sue. I thought better of Ginger & her family as well after reading the interview. Both she & her sister were very respectful of Elvis' memory. And it was touching to know that she still has the engagement ring Elvis gave her. It helps me to believe that she may have actually cared for him.

Ditto to everyone! My thoughts exactly.

And Wanda, when the times come I am sure it will be one hell of a storm

oops I didn't sign off on the last post

Vera

Here is a quote to ponder re Ginger from "Inside Graceland" by Nancy Rooks, Elvis' maid. It does confirm what Wanda has said about Elvis loosing interest in going thru' with the marriage plans. Thought "Inside Graceland" was a thoughtful positive book on Elvis & would recommend it.

"A lot of people have asked me if Elvis had really intended to marry Ginger. I don't think that he did. I think in the beginning he felt like he could change her into someone who could take care of him but, as time went on, I think he realized that he could not "mold her" like he wanted to. She was just too young and too independent. He had already mentioned to me a day or so earlier that if she did not go with him on this tour, he was going to find someone else.
He told me, ' I have spent over $60,000 on her and she still won't do what I want her to do.' He had also come to the realization that she was still seeing someone else. He had her followed on several occassions after she left the mansion, saying she was going home, only to find out that she was going to a nightclub in east Memphis. . . . I think he had reached the end of his rope with her."

Wow, it blows me away to find out other people close to him knew the same things he told me! I guess I am so "hanging out there" kind of feeling and still remember how it was being the only one like me with a book saying things the other guys couldn't believe because they didn't get to have that kind of information straight from him-they had to put ear to the door etc; kind of thing... I guess? Anyway, thanks so much for posting that-I hadn't heard or seen anything that she had a book either- I will see about getting it since you reccomend it and I don't have to worry about my hair standing on end and my eye balls turning red and extending out-oh, and my canine teeth get very long and I slobber too...Jimmie says, Oh, you're angry about something-huh?" Starla turns around and goes home... she's smart. wjh

I read Larry Geller's book on his time with Elvis. His comments were much the same, that Elvis had tired of the relationship with Ginger and knew that she was spending time with someone else. I think the saddest thing in the book was a comment he said Elvis made to him, looking in the direction of a room where Ginger was (sleeping, maybe? It's been a while.) He says Elvis said something to the effect that "I'll never know if a woman is really in love with me or with Elvis Presley. I'll never know." How sad for him to have that kind of doubt. He sounds like such a sweet, caring, loving man that any woman would love much more than his stage persona or the image.

One good thing about it is, he didn't take long to decide or discern as he worded it, what they were there for-Elvis Presley or him. He didn't waste much time with the first type but if he had some "connection" with one, he'd let her stay "a while". He always had hope that he'd find one whom he felt comfortable enough to be himself and to relate to in some way other than sexual. And I have to say that when I found that out about him, it changed my way of looking at the Elvis Presley and into realizing what kind of guy was behind that facade he often hid behind. I liked that guy-he was special, as we all know and are learning. It's too bad that he always seemed to go for the young women, I guess because he was the happiest at that time when he had married his Cilla and they had the child. For that short time, he was on top of his world...and looked it too. Cilla did give him that-she did give him a new outlook, brought out his best in many ways and that's what he was looking for again, maybe too hard? Anyway, he liked being with women, I'm just glad he had the chances and that he enjoyed being with them. wjh

who might have been the new girl???

Thought I'd bring this interview back up for newer members to review. Ginger rarely gives interviews.

Has anyone heard, is Ginger coming out with a book? I thought I recalled reading something along those lines but can't remember now.

Laurie thank you so much for posting this interview with Ginger and her sister and for bringing it back around again. It was very interesting to read and Joe I would also like to thank you for the additional update you gave us as to the new girl that was going to be on the new tour. Very interesting to know also. How heartbreaking it must have been for Elvis to never have been able to realize if someone was in love with him or with "Elvis Presley". This really makes me so sad because with all that is known about him, the man, thanks to Wanda to me it just seems like it would've been very easy to love the man rather than just the "image". There he was so hoping to be loved for HIMSELF by that one special woman while his "image" was adored by millions. I can only imagine how that must have made him feel. Also Wanda I completely agree with you 100% with what you said here about the ones that Elvis was going to get rid of that didn't deserve to be there " Not to rain on their parade, but I hope they get caught without umberellas and have to wade water to their necks-barefoot.". AMEN my friend!!!

He had a couple in mind-in case he needed a "backup" I guess. One was called Debbie I believe she was in Memphis and he'd met her where she worked. The other was on the West Coast and he had known her a while, she was a blonde too and very pretty, quite a bit like Linda T. in many ways. Loved poetry, liked listening to him read her things, was religious and inqiring and she was willing to give up everything to be with him for a while-something they all had to do...devote themselves to him. We knew her-it would have been good for a while, but he would have moved on-I don't think Elvis could possiblly be happy with one woman after all the women he'd been around and with. It seems to me that he would have expectations that one female could not fulfill on all counts. Maybe I am wrong, but I have always thought that after getting to know him. He may not have been totally aware that he was in my term for it, "addicted to the excitement of meeting new women" and without that continued excitement which might wear off after a while with any one, he would start to be bored or expecting more than could be given??? Just my theory and not based on any professional knowledge or training. I ain't smart-just not real stupid. quote from Elvis and it fits me too.

One other fact that not everyone realizes or knows about but will soon probably, is that from the time Elvis was born he never slept by himself...first he slept with his parents until he was older, then they lived in small quarters and he often slept with them even as a teenager..especially in wintertime. Elvis was afraid to be alone-not that he was "scared" exactly, but he had not ever been alone since being concieved...a very strong tie for twins was formed and he didn't get over it. Even as an adult he worried about being alone with all the people after him as he became more popular. He didn't want confrontations with anyone unexpectedly in the night etc: or day etc:. And too, he was a sleep walker, a dreamer who had nightmares and he needed someone nearby to watch over him. He liked to sleep with someone, often got in bed with relatives to sleep and thought nothing of it. He liked to have a woman with him just to be there, not always for sexual reasons at all which was and is distorted and misconstrued by many including his "trusted mm guys" etc:. They surmised the worst-guess those keyholes didn't always allow a clear view? Anyway, Elvis was a little bit weird in that way as he put it, not liking to sleep alone. He just needed to know someone was there if he needed them, had a nightmare, whatever. Many women who were with him say these things-it was common knowledge among the "groupy circuit of young starlets and hopefuls" who got to be a round him or knew others who had. But they didn't think he was strange except he often did not want to have sex with them, just wanted to cuddle and fall asleep knowing somebody was there who cared for him or about him. As he put it, "what's wrong with that"? He always said he wasn't the stud they made him out to be-he was just "a normal guy, in an abnormal situation, doing a public kind of job" and he "was no better, and no worse than most guys". He was "average" he said a few times...and I said "Really!"
And he laughed and said, "Well, we ain't gonna go measurin' nothin' personal to prove it-but I ain't nothin' special except I can sing pretty good and I grow lots of hair!" I have to say that was one time we laughed a while over! I miss my buddy. wjh

I echo your sentiments above exactly dear Sue!