Tears in Memphis

The blond headed five-year-old girl stood in the Memphis airport waiting for a connecting flight to Orlando in pursuit of Mickey and Minnie. Her brown eyes widened as she saw through the glass of a gift shop the perfect postcard. Immediately she ran inside the shop, lifted her arms up to the turnstile, stood on her tippy-toes and stretched with all she had in her.

Her fingers pulled the postcard from its holder. She gazed at it, knowing this forty-five cent postcard of Elvis (in his not fat, but not skinny years) wearing a black jumpsuit and white silk scarf would be better than all the things she would bring home from Disneyworld.

Not knowing what the word shoplifting meant or if she did, she was too excited to hold back from running from the gift shop and towards her mother who had just noticed she wasn’t by her side, “there you are.”

Little Rachel’s eyes stared up at Mom as she said “I have to have this, oh please. Please!” Mom smiled, “of course” knowing that her daughter was as crazy for Elvis as the disciples were for Jesus.

They clasped hands and walked back to the shop to make a proper purchase. Mom had no idea where this obsession came from. It had one day inexplicably started and from that moment on Rachel Leigh-Ann would watch movie after movie and listen over and over to his recordings from a boom-box in her room. Mom even looked in the backseat once on a drive across town to see Little Rachel mimicking the famous lip curl.

The postcard was in a small plastic bag and the change in the cashier’s hand just as Matthew, the older brother by 2 ½ years, sauntered into the store and huffed at all the Elvis memorabilia. Little Rachel eagerly showed him the prize postcard.

“I don’t know why you’d want a picture of him. He’s dead,” Matthew said not so gingerly.

Those words struck Little Rachel to her core. Dead. She knew what it meant, not really having it explained to her before but innately it was in her to understand. Little Rachel’s HERO WAS DEAD???

Mom and Dad never thought to tell their daughter that Elvis had died in 1977, eight years prior to that moment in the Memphis airport. Matthew had no idea that this would be such a shock to his little sis. He was almost scared he’d be in trouble for it. Mom and Dad were too busy just hugging the little one and trying to ease her pain to punish him.

And if a country singer had been passing by catching a flight to Branson he would have seen the look on Little Rachel’s face and watched her as she wept uncontrollably. He then would have certainly written a beautiful ballad for her… “Tears in Memphis.”

What is Blog-able?

In an effort to coax my writing back from the abyss that is procrastination, I have decided to take up a blog.

This brings me to my very first, pop the champagne and put your party hats on entry...

My only question is: What is blog-able?

Do you really want to hear about the nasty hang-nail I have or that I'm on a quest to lose 10 pounds? That I hate people who don't hold a door open for you when it is visible you're struggling. When people don't wipe down cardio machines at the gym and they are sweating more than I have in the last month.

What is clever enough, what is pop-culture enough, what is relevant, funny, IMPORTANT enough?

Is RACHEL blog-able???

I guess we'll find out.