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Elvis Calls me Kathy
Blog 1957
#HappyBirthdayElvis. #elvispresley #HappyBirthdayElvis born January 8th 1935. Elvis calls me Kathy 1957
It was nineteen fifty seven, my cousin Eileen and I were going to see our Aunt Louise Brien, we called her Eza (Pronouced Ee - za... Like Louisa without the Lou). Who was the sweetest person in the world. Mothers younger sister who was living in Memphis. She left Nashville and married a pro football player. A Former Green Bay Packers football Star and Heavy weight Boxer everyone called "Heavy"...who was working in construction. She invited us to spend the summer with her. I was 14, she was 11. Everybody was in love with Elvis, we’d go down to Hibbett's drug store and buy movie magazines. My sister Annette worked at Hibbett's and would charge everything so she would have nothing left by the end of the week. We were so excited! We loved Eza, our favorite aunt and we thought she was so beautiful, everybody said I looked like her. We told Eza we wanted to see Elvis and every mourning she would drop us off at Graceland. She would pull up in front of Elvis's Mansion and say "Have you seen him"? and we’d say "no". "Are you ready to come back home?"...we'd say "no". Then one day my cousin Eileen was like "I’m hungry, I want a milkshake". “Ok. let's get you a milkshake” I believe it was called Westgate, a little strip mall, I remember hearing "Honeycomb" by little Jimmie Rodgers playing on the jukebox. It wasn’t commercial back then. When we came back the people standing around said “ You just missed him. I wanted to pour that milkshake all over Eileen “YOU had to have a milkshake!!". We wore the same size shoe. I wore a peasant blouse and waist cinched, I was trying to look older. I liked Eileen’s shoes, she had baby doll shoes and I had more pointy shoes. She liked mine better so we swopped shoes. we met Elvis's cousin/guard "Smith" who told us you just missed him.
The next day, I decided we would take a lunch and eat there. No more chances. Tuna salad sandwiches, and we waited and waited. Finally, the guard who had been eyeing us was gone, so I told Eileen, let's go through the field and go over the wall. I climbed up the wall and sat on top, I could see his mother's pink Cadillac. Eileen grabbed my other leg that was still on this side, she pleaded with me not to go. “don’t go, don’t go, we are going to get in trouble” "I’m scared, don’t do it” reluctantly, I came down. I think she thought I was going to get shot or worse. So, we made our way back through the field, it was a big field got back to the front of Graceland and Uncle Smith came down and talked to us. “I’ve seen you girls come down here- everyday ". We said, yes. He said “ If you want to see Elvis, you need to come back tonight, He doesn’t come out till nine". "He’ll be here. He doesn’t come out in the day time. It was rare for him to be out in the day". Well, we’d have to get our aunt to bring us. Guard -"Well tell your aunt to bring ya 'll here at 9 o’clock, he’ll be here... I promise”. Eileen and I looked at each other, we didn't say a word. There's a fine line between knowing when to talk it up, and shut up. Aunt Eza says "I don’t know, are you sure you want to do this? Yes! yes!Well, huun. (She always called us huun with a long sounding southern huun). I don’t want to disappoint you, but I don’t think he’ll be there”. She knew, she had already had a drink... or two? I was a bit nervous but determined. The drink also helped us to convince her to take us. We didn’t want her husband Heavy to know....we begged her and she agreed. We pulled up to Graceland and there was nobody there... it was a 50 something Oldsmobile. When we got out of the car, and we stood up at the gate, it was a brick wall and lo and behold, here he comes...in a little golf cart. ..we were just stunned....he came over to the fence/gate. He hung over and talked to us...He asked my name and Eileen's. We were on the brick wall to the left of the big gates. ... other people spotted him and showed up. Maybe 15 people? He cut up with us and everybody had questions...he had on black pants, black shirt, slim white belt. I think they were loafers with white and black. I don’t know why he would say this? “He would say “Don’t lie to me - don’t lie to me” I think he just like to hear himself say it. I would say he was there for a good hour. He left twice. "Just remember...don’t lie to me". We’d say no, don’t go...don’t go... he left in his golf cart.... go off and seconds later he would come back...” Elvis said "I fooled you”, and grinned. We hung on to his every word. I could hardly reach him, I had to stand on my tip toes...our time alone with Elvis seemed short, but all in all maybe an hour. We got his autograph from a piece of paper I found on the ground; He just wrote “Elvis Presley”.... there were more kids there clamor- ing for him.....my moment with him was brief... I touched him. Eza, was waiting right in the front. We got in the car and we didn’t get far down the parkway when a policeman pulled us over. Apparently, aunt Eza had a cocktail while she waited on us. "Well, Officerrrr, I was just taking my little nieces to see Ellllviiissssss Presssss- ahh--(Dear god, I didn’t think she was ever going to get it out in her inebriated speech) press - sssa-ley". Officer - "Now listen girls, I'm going to let your Aunt go but you have to promise me your going straight home”. "Oh, we promise! We promise". Eza's husband Heavy Gilmer, drove cousin Eileen and I back to Nashville and Elvis went into the Army. We listened to Heavy talk about his football days, but we were thinking of Elvis. Oh, what would become of us?
