“Excuse me, can I get a picture of your backsides?” I have to admit that this was an unusual request, even for Elvis week. You might expect that the reaction would be to call for the cops or at least a good slap in the face. But the four women to whom I made the request turned around to look at me and the turned to let be get a picture of the backs of their matching shirts.
The shirts matched in style but the backs identified which generation each member of this family of Elvis fans was from. A unique idea that I had never seen in my years at Graceland. After that, I asked if I could get a picture of the fronts of their shirts. While I was getting this picture, they told me there were two other women in their group somewhere. I said I would try to get a picture of them if I ran into them.
There was something different in the air this year during Elvis week. There was a sense of transition and change. New things are about to happen at Graceland. New things are happening now. Elvis week is changing. Some of this is being driven by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Some of it is with the fans. Some of it was just me. During a normal Elvis week, I go to the candlelight vigil on the 15th, spend all day on the 16th recovering from the trip and writing an essay like this one. I like to write while the trip is fresh on my mind. It is easier to remember where people are from and conversations with strangers when they happened the day before. This year I spent the 16th preparing to leave the country. I would be leaving for business in Vietnam on the 17th. I would not have an opportunity recount my Elvis week saga until a week after it happened. I would have to depend on extensive notes and multiple photos to spur my memory. I had committed myself this year to returning to the original vision of what I do during Elvis week. I wanted to talk to as many people as I possibly could and get lots of pictures. The last few years, I’ve taken more friends with me for the trip. It’s fun to have these people along but I felt like I was giving more attention to my group and less to the people around us. The new encounters are what make this trip special and I was ready to make that happen. In addition to committing to taking more pictures, I would actively pursue a picture with anybody wearing a jumpsuit or dressed in any way like Elvis. Because I didn’t get a picture of the guy with the Elvis hair, puffy gold shirt, shorts, and black, ankle-high boots with black socks, I cannot count myself completely successful. But at least someone in my group did get a photo of him. And I did make an honest effort to get a photo with him where in recent years, I wouldn’t have always gone for a picture with a guy like that.
