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Happy Birthday, Elvis!

So Elvis would have been 81 today!  Since he died in 1977, I don't really remember the time when he was alive.  However, I do remember the impact on the culture all the time I was growing up.  My mom had the newspaper clipping from the day he died, she talked about remembering that day, she had some of his albums and even had Christmas ornaments with his likeness!



I think I began to appreciate Elvis by watching his movies before I liked his music.  I remember watching lots of his movies with my mom: Love Me Tender, It Happened At the World's Fair and others.  The one I loved most was Blue Hawaii.  Short shorts be damned, I liked it.  And now my kid loves the song "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You".  Sometimes, I just do parenting right despite myself.



In his later years, but before he got sick and terrible looking, I thought of my dad as looking like Elvis.  Hey, it was the late 70's.  That was how dads, some dads, looked!




It wasn't until I got much older that I truly began to appreciate Elvis' music.  And at some point in time I came to really appreciate his swagger and dancing.  But since this is a PG blog, I'll save that for an after hours story.  And yes, I have been known to see the occasional Elvis impersonator.  Hey, there may be quite a few ladies there named Doris and Eula, but those girls know how to have fun. 


And if you EVER have the chance to see an impersonator(s) in Vegas, I urge you not to miss it.  It is every bit the treat you ever thought it would be. 


No matter how you felt about The King, you do have to appreciate his contribution to our American music.  His decline and early death were a tragedy, but luckily the good memories of his legacy continue to live on.


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