Legends

Today is the day Elvis died. Believe it or not, I was working next door to his house when he died, and I saw his ambulance come and get him. If you will remember, in the '70s, CB radios were all the rage. I was teaching a class at Cosmopolitan Spa, on Elvis Presley Boulevard, when Elvis bit the dust. 

CB radios recorded the fact that ambulances were called to Graceland that day. Then when the people came in to take their aerobics class, they were all talking about it and told me that ambulances were on the way to Graceland! So the entire class went out in the parking lot; I went and got my child out of the daycare that the Cosmopolitan Spa provided for its workers, put him on my shoulders, and we watched the ambulances come and go. I say that in a plural form, because there were two ambulances that came and went. We didn't know which had Elvis in it, but the next 3 or 4 days in Memphis, Tennessee were unbelievable. Workers suddenly went on strike, as the world arrived in Memphis. Chaos? Um... yes; disastrously dangerous chaos it was!

It was at that point in my life I realized the power of labor unions. In my hometown of Cincinnati, strikes were not part of the every day conversation. However, in Memphis, labor is a force with a powerful voice. Once the garbage stopped being processed and the city stank to high heavens, the garbage workers' quality of work life improved immeasurably,  and rightfully so.

The southern charm wears quite thin once you live in Memphis for years. My coworkers at Grisanti's put spaghetti and oysters in my pockets and sneered, "Yankee!" as they laughed. 

I'm proud to be a Yankee, y'all.  ♡

I hated it that Elvis had left this life, BUT I recall the many times he had overdosed and been hospitalized. I was not surprised, but lordy was there some mourning in that town. You couldn't buy a smile for weeks, everyone was devastated. 

So here we are four decades later, and his death is still the subject of the news shows. I sorta wish everyone would let Elvis rest in peace. Sing his songs,  but let Elvis rest. 

Peace,

Kimmy