Goodbye, Lisa Marie

By Victoria R. Crosby

As a long-time Elvis fan, I was thrilled to see Austin Butler win a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Elvis, then crushed a few days later to hear that Lisa Marie Presley had died of a heart attack just weeks short of her fifty-fifth birthday. She didn’t look well at the Golden Globes, although two days before that, she was signing autographs and taking selfies with fans at Graceland in Memphis, celebrating what would have been her father’s 88th birthday.

I empathized with Lisa Marie, as I also lost my father when I was nine years old. But her father was a world-famous person who died at home where she witnessed the traumatic aftermath of his passing. I also felt for her when she lost her son Benjamin in 2020; then one of my sons died in 2021, so I understand her heartbreak.

People left bunches of flowers that covered the top of the wall that surrounds Graceland, and onto the sidewalk and the famous musical gates. They left flowers, candles, and notes of condolence to the family. Large flower arrangements filled the areas surrounding the Meditation Garden where Lisa Marie was buried next to her son Benjamin who committed suicide, and where Elvis, his parents, and grandmother are buried, with a small marker for Jessie Garon, his twin brother who was stillborn. Historically, the greatest number of flowers sold in one day in the USA was on August 16, 1977, the day Elvis died.

The Presley Family had requested that in lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. This nonprofit offers support to various charitable organizations, especially those focused in the arts, education, and children’s programs in the Memphis area, or to St. Jude’s Hospital, which Elvis had supported.

Several thousand people waited in the early morning hours to gather on the lawn in Graceland to attend the memorial celebration of Lisa Marie Presley’s life. The family and friends were seated in chairs under a tent. Austin Butler and producer Baz Luhrmann were there, as well as James Burdon, Elvis’s guitarist, who was in a wheelchair recovering from recent surgery. Elvis Gospel music played before and after the service.

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Addie Freeman Named Miss Gwinnett County 2023

By Traci Sanders

Seventeen-year-old Brookwood High School senior, Addie Freeman, was crowned Miss Gwinnett County 2023 at the Gwinnett County Fair on September 17th and will represent Gwinnett County as she competes as one of the youngest candidates at the Miss Georgia Scholarship Competition in June 2023, held in Columbus, Georgia. If she wins this title, she will represent Georgia in the Miss America pageant.

Addie has been participating in pageants since age nine, but did not start competing in the Miss America Organization until age fourteen.

“My mom wanted me to start learning some life skills that I could use in the future,” she said, “so she signed me up for my first local preliminary, which I didn’t win.”

After a few more competitions, she finally won the title of Miss Stone Mountain’s Outstanding Teen. To date, Addie has competed three times in the Miss Georgia’s Outstanding Teen pageant and has also held the titles of Miss Southeast Georgia’s Outstanding Teen, where she received a non-finalist interview award, and most recently as Miss International City’s Outstanding Teen, where she was a semi-finalist for the Miss Georgia Social Impact Scholarship Award and finished in the Top 15. This is the first time she’s competing in the Miss division, and she’s proud to represent her home county and give back to the community where she’s lived all her life.

When many people think of pageants, they envision all the glitz and glamour involved, but Addie shared that the Miss America Organization, the largest provider of scholarships to women, is about so much more than pretty dresses and faces.

“In addition to the cash and in-kind scholarships I’ve won,” she said, “which totals over $62,000, I have grown so much as a person. I’ve gained so many life skills such as public speaking, interview skills, stage presence, as well as honing my natural talents. All these things I can carry into future careers and endeavors in adulthood.”

Addie said that competing in the organization is fun but is also a lot of work and can be stressful at times.

“As a Miss candidate, we each have a ten-minute private interview with a panel of judges where we can be asked anything,” she explained. “Questions can come from our resume, social impact essay, or can be anything related to current events or political hot topics. During competition we must perform a talent, model an evening gown, and answer an on-stage question as an extension of our interview. We also must deliver a twenty-to-forty-second Social Impact Pitch about our Social Impact Initiative.”

Addie chose Juvenile Arthritis (JA), having experienced this firsthand as a child. She was diagnosed with pauciarticular juvenile arthritis as an infant but outgrew it only to develop a different form that didn’t cause her pain but, left untreated, involved potential blindness. She had to take weekly shots of methotrexate – a drug sometimes used to treat cancer patients – for five years and finally went into remission in 2017.

Addie knows her condition could have been much worse and has met others who are experiencing more severe symptoms, which is why this cause is so near and dear to her heart.

“In the United States, 300,000 kids and teens are currently suffering

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Jason Clark and the Tennessee Mass Choir sang Amazing Grace, followed by opening remarks from Joel Weinshanker, managing partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, who said Lisa had conveyed her final wishes, “Don’t make it sad.” However, this was impossible for her fans, friends, and family. The invocation was given by Pastor Dwayne Hunt, who also gave the benediction toward the end of the service.

Musical tributes included the song To Sheila by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morrissette sang Rest, and Axl Rose of Guns ‘N Roses sang November Rain. Sarah Ferguson spoke of her close friendship with Lisa Marie Presley and quoted her late mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II: “Grief is the price we pay for love.” Then she read the poem A Tribute to the Children by George Frost, the son of British TV host David Frost for his memorial service.

Lisa Marie had lived in Sussex, England from 2010 until 2016, and once helped to serve fish and chips at the local pub.

A longtime friend of Elvis, Jerry Schilling, who had known Lisa since her birth, told of how he always referred to her as “Memphis.”

Her mother, Priscilla Presley, read a poem written by her granddaughter Riley called The Old Soul, which included the line, “she always knew she wouldn’t be here too long.” Priscilla also thanked her son, Lisa’s

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