LMP-MODERN-SCREEN-TRSNKRIPT-PG1

by Sandra Crawford

Though she took her daddy's death very hard, according to insiders, she has bounced back, as kids do. She will always have
to live with some terrible memories, of course, because she was there when it happened. Memories of sudden middle of the
night turmoil and shouting, the wail of ambulances, the confused shouts of sobs of Elvis' entourage at Graceland, the child
perhaps ignored in the initial uproar, then at last given the devastating news.
But there are other memories, too, that will become stronger and more real as the bad ones fade, loving and happy memories
of her daddy and a very specail relationship that no one will ever be able to take away from her. Though she has lost him, she
can be comforted by knowing just how much Elvis loved her.
Someday, Graceland will belong to the state of Tennessee, which will doubtless turn it into a public shrine to the King of Rock.
Now it is still a home-a home where Lisa's granddaddy lived until recent death this past June, and where she has visited
several times. It is a house that is filled with memories of a father determined to indulge his "baby's" most extravagant whims.
Her bedroom is a tribute to that indulgance, filled with a menagerie of stuffed toys and dolls. And at the center, is Lisa's
famous circular "hamburger bed," with the domed canopy made to look like a bun. So, too, is her daddy's bedroom filled with
memories of crawling under the covers and snuggling up, as she doubtless often did, to join him watching one of the two colour
TV's on the ceiling.
Even the grounds of the house are filled with memories of their earliest days. Out by the swimming pool, Lisa remembers the
time she almost got "Snoopy," the Great Dane that was a present from Elvis, to take a spanking for her! He'd scolded her for
throwing clods of earth into the pool, then found that she'd done it again. When he asked her how that happened after she'd
promised never to do it again, she told him Snoopy had picked up the dirt and dropped it in! Straightfaced, Elvis asked, "you
mean I'm going to have to spank Snoopy for doing that?" At first Lisa nodded, but when he went to spank the dog, she burst
into tears, and confessed that she was the culprit. Elvis used to laugh every time he told that story, adding that Lisa never got
that spanking-but there was no more dirt in the pool, either!
Even more as simple an act as brushing her teeth evokes warm memories for Lisa. Losing her baby teeth gave Elvis a chance
to do what he most enjoyed-giving her something. Priscilla recalled in 1974, "All fathers tend to spoil their daughters, and Elvis
is no exception...when one of Lisa's baby teeth fell out here, the tooth fairy left her 50 cents. Another tooth fell out while she
was with her father in Las Vegas, and that tooth fairy left her $5! When I told Elvis 50 cents would be more in line he
laughed...How would Elvis Presley know the going rate for a tooth?" Fondly Priscilla remembered that Elvis was that way,
always generous, always hating to say no, about everything where his little girl was concerned. That went for things as simple
as sneaking those potato chips her mother said she couldn't have before dinner-to coming into her room at night to read her
nursery rhymes-or going out of his way, breaking his own routine, to give her something really special as a present.
One of Lisa's last memories of her daddy, in fact, was one of those special presents. For on what no one would know was to
be the last night of his life, it was Lisa that he devoted himself completely. First, he rented a local amusement park after
normal hours. The manager recalls that he went on every ride Lisa chose with her, often several times, never tiring of seeing
her laugh or hearing her screams of mock terror on the roller coaster. But even that wasn't enough. He was seen, only hours
before his death, outside the mansion by an old friend, to whom he explained, "I've got to get something special for my baby."
This, mind you, was in the middle of the night. Yet he did manage to find a motorized little car, and he and his "yeesa"-his
very own name for her, a name he dubbed her when she was a tiny child, that seemed to have stuck-played with it for hours
together-the grown man taking as much pleasure in the experience as the child. Then he kissed his baby goodnight and
tucked her in, perhaps pausing for a moment in the doorway for one last look, one last word. It was the last time Lisa ever saw
him alive.
Yet even death cannot take from her the years of happy memories, the million ways, big and small, that Elvis expressed his
love for his only child. Though it has been rumoured that he daid he wanted a son, he meant a son too. Insiders recall that he
was thrilled when he learned his newborn was a girl. "I always wanted a little girl with a ruffled bottom," is how he put it, and he
never failed to enjoy the sight of Lisa in something ultra frilly and feminine.
In fact, it's not too much to say that he adored her even before she was born. A friend remembers Elvis calling to announce
Priscilla's pregnancy with a choked voice and words she'll never forget: "God's really done it now!"
For Lisa, too, there will be unforgettable memories to cherish as long as she lives.