Today is one of those days you wish you could simply sleep through and wake up the next morning, oblivious to what you slept through. Today, the world lost another legend: Aretha Franklin. Who, and I mean who, in a state of consciousness, doesn't know about Aretha Franklin? Her music is a part of our lives. It always will be. R. I. P., dear Aretha. I can promise you that you will never be forgotten.
And then... on this same, sad day in 1977, I was with my (now ex-) husband and our lawyer in a diner in Ossining, NY, as we celebrated the closing on the house we'd just bought. Then the lawyer said, almost as an afterthought, "Did you hear that Elvis Presley died today?"
I dropped the fork I'd been holding, fought back tears, then gathered my wits about me and said, "You're just kidding, right?"
Nick (the Lawyer), gave me a strange look, and then it was not only obvious that he wasn't joking, but he suddenly realized he'd hit a nerve, and hit it hard. Both my ex-husband and I were ardent Elvis fans, and suddenly, on a day when we should have been celebrating the purchase of our new home, our world came crashing down around us.
The loss of Elvis didn't destroy our marriage, but it didn't help, either. The marriage ended in 1979. It would have ended no matter what. But the day lives on, in my memory, of August 16th, 1977. The day will never be happy again.
Yes, life goes on. But the very date, "August 16," will forever be a reminder of loss.
I dealt with my sorrow, of course. One of the ways I dealt with it was to paint Elvis portraits, a lot of them, one of which I sent to a fan in Illinois who says he had it placed in a library there. I don't know if it is still there or not. But here is an old photo I took of my painting before I sent it off to the fan.
R. I. P. Elvis, too.
