elvis | Peaches Prattlings

{February 14, 2025} February 14th…a bittersweet day

I say bittersweet because there is much sweet and a little bitter.

Let me start with the obvious, February 14th is Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Valentine. It began as a tribute to a martyr, but it has transformed into a cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of love and romance in many parts of the world. No shade to anyone who celebrates and enjoys the sentiment, I, myself am a sucker for romance. When I can shower my loved ones with love, what could be wrong?!

There was the St Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929, when Chicago’s Northside Gang lost seven of their members, on the plus side, sort of?, it inspired the Paper Lace’s 1974 song The Night Chicago Died. On the happier side, Valentine’s Day has inspired countless stories, movies, tv show episodes, books, songs, and a feeling of joy.

For me…aside from showing my loved ones how I feel, there are three things that stick in my mind. One, I was a part of from the beginning, one I wasn’t there for, but I can wish them well, and one, I’m getting to the point I can smile. I’m going to share, happy, sad, then happy, that will be a good way to end this post.

My friend JCT and her husband celebrate their wedding anniversary today, isn’t that wonderful?! A day about love and they get to wish each other love and happiness on a whole different level. I’ve known JCT and JT, yeah, I just realized that myself!, for 16 years! WOW! I met JCT when I started working for a company that hired me as a trainer, my first official software trainer gig, and it just went from there!

I met her and two other people I am still good friends with today. We traveled together to different locations training for a soft drink company, she and I hit it off like gangbusters. I still remember her calling me that Thanksgiving about 12am, could have been later, telling me that she was going to Walmart to buy a laptop for Black Friday. I thought she was nuts, but why not, I’ll come and keep you company!

I ended up hanging with her while her husband was at some other store getting some other Black Friday deal. After we took our winnings with us, I introduced her to Waffle House! And a tradition was born! NO! That was my one and only Black Friday middle of the night waiting for a deal experience, thank you very much! No, it was let’s go to Waffle House! Once I left Georgia, I didn’t always have access to Waffle House, so…when I would visit Atlanta, someone, didn’t matter who, and they would take turns, someone…was taking me to Waffle House! Y U M!

I met JCT, then met her husband, JT, then their daughter, STY, she was about 8 or 9 at the time, wow! and JCT’s mom, who has become another mom to me. And now, they are my extended family and I love them for it. When I visit Atlanta, they are on my list of people to see and crash with, they welcomed me in and the door is always open. And mom keeps trying to fatten me up with some amazing, wonderful, and tasty Chinese treats, again…Y U M! Happy Anniversary JCT and JT, here’s to many, many, many, many more wonderful years together.

Next, I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the passing of a dear friend of mine, AGM, on Valentine’s Day. Kind of fitting, he was so very loved and when we all came together for the funeral, it was a definite celebration of his life and how much he loved and was loved. I still think about him and as time passes, it gets a little easier to smile when thinking about him.

Well, when you think about his life and when we were younger, it’s easy to smile, at the things he did and said and how he made you feel. And that’s what I’m doing, as we speak, I’m sitting here, writing about him and I’m smiling at the memories from high school, running and jumping up into his arms, he was so much taller than me, but who wasn’t?! Sometimes he’d catch me and twirl me around, other times, we’d fall to the ground…always said he fell for me every time.

AGM, I miss you, and I love you, thank you for being in my life and a part of it, and letting me be a small part of yours.

The last, I said would be happy… is Gotcha Day for SDL and Miss A! That is the day the adoption was official and they were officially a family. And me, of course! I became Auntie George the second I found out about Miss A! SDL and I had been talking about adoption for so long and it took a long time getting there, but she got there. I’ll never forget the day SDL sent a picture to her mom and I saying ‘how would you like to see your potential granddaughter/niece?’ oh boy…did our hearts melt!

I knew SDL’s parents from a few of their visits, but as soon as the adoption process got underway, a new family was born, yes, they adopted me too! It was me, mom-mom, pop-pop, and auntie D who went to the airport to pick up SDL and Miss A and oh wow, did we all melt into the floor when they got off the plane! And they have been stuck with me ever since!

SDL, Miss A, and I have had some grand adventures! Whenever I visit Atlanta, I am at their house, sometimes for a week, sometimes it’s my home base, then we’ve gone on some great trips! They visited me when I was on the road, traveling for work, New Orleans, we visited Elvis together, NYC, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, last year we went to London, there are more adventures in our future, and you know I’ll tell you all about them! I could go on and on, but I have to end this post at some point!

Today is a very special day, there are people in my life that bring me such happiness and joy just by existing. My husband, my family, who are related by blood and marriage, my kids, grandkids, my friends who are my chosen family, I am going to get cheesy…I want to send love into the universe, I know I tell them every time I see them, talk to them, text, I never want to let a moment go by that I don’t tell them how much they mean to me, today and every day.

I started to say some very cheesy things and while that’s me, I just want to say, I love you all, thank you for being you and allowing me to be me, yeah, that’s cheesy enough. Happy Heart Day to all!

{May 25, 2024} And the reason we’re in Las Vegas…Dum dum da dum…

May 25, 2024 is our 5th wedding anniversary, and we decided a while back that we wanted to renew our vows every five years, and here it is! And it’s on a Saturday, just like the first time! So…when we decided we would renew our vows, our first thought was…Las Vegas…Elvis, what more could you want!

So…we sent out the word to everyone who was there the first time, and added some new friends we’ve made along the way and if anyone was available to join us, great! Anyone that couldn’t, no worries at all, you would be there in spirit!

We even wore the same outfits, ignore the wrinkles, I took the pics right after we hung up our stuff! We had Chuck Taylor, Converse Allstars, that I had painted Boston…New York…and the date on both pairs. PSM wore the same formal Hawai’ian Shirt, I wore the same rockabilly dress with tulle under it, same flowers in my hair and we were good to go!

After a great morning, spending some of the time with family and some time just the two of us, it was perfect! We got dressed, met up with SDL and Miss A, Uncle A and Auntie L, in the lobby of the Planet Hollywood Hotel, everyone was looking spiffy and we went up to S&J’s uber huge room and met them and my dad. We were meeting a very good family friend CL at the event later, so excited she lives just outside of Las Vegas and could come and celebrate with us! It would not have been the same if she wasn’t there!

After cocktails, which was very similar to the first time, we headed over to Las Vegas Immersive Weddings. This was truly an interesting, inventive, and exciting experience! I found them online through Get Your Guide, a site to purchase experiences, like Viator, and TripAdvisor, and more. The first thing I really liked about this company, aside from the different and interesting concept, was that the price for the experience was the price for the experience! All the others had a starting price and it only went up from there, not cool.

What was included was the location, that was interesting, it’s in a strip mall, there was a red carpet with velvet ropes on either side leading up to the front door, a waiting area/lobby that set the mood as soon as you walk in…pink padded chairs/sofa, a wall made of pink roses, a claw foot tub with a mannequin bathing in glass bubbles, a bottle of vodka behind glass ‘in case of emergencies’, props, and a juke box. That’s the way to make an entrance!

Susan, the lovely woman who organizes everything was there to greet us when we came in and she called Elvis in, there he was in all his glory, white rhinestone outfit with a huge belt, and giant Elvis sunglasses, oh, we can’t forget the cape! They sent everyone in to the back room where the ceremony was going to take place and then they went through how it was all going to work.

We each chose a lei, then Elvis took everyone, including PSM into the back room, Susan guided dad, who was in his Captain’s t-shirt, that he had gotten on our trip to New Orleans, he looked fabulous! The music started and we danced our way into the room, where Elvis was singing and directing us to where we needed to be.

The room one wall with champagne glasses and some bells, the rest of the room was floor to ceiling video screens and white sofas for everyone to sit on. We stood in the middle and the videos began to play, I don’t remember every image, but Las Vegas was certainly in the background. When it was time to go, Elvis was singing and telling us where to stand and how things were going to go.

The background moved and changed with the mood and what Elvis was doing and what we were doing. It was fabulous, Elvis said the vows, we repeated them, he threw in some very and funny stuff for us to repeat, some stuff was just for us, PSM and Elvis apparently had a little bit of a pow wow before I walked in!

There was laughter, love, excitement, frivolity, hilarity, music, laughter, I know I said that already, and love. So much love was in this room, not just from us, but from everyone surrounding us. And like the first time, there were moments, and i know I’m being cheesy, but who cares, there were moments, I didn’t realize anyone else was in the room but us, and I’m pretty sure my husband/groom felt the same way.

After the vows, and thank goodness it was recorded because I don’t remember most of what was said! There was a countdown for us to kiss, and it was right there on the big screen! We smooched, we hugged, we kissed, we danced. Everyone then got up and danced with us, Elvis sand, as Elvis does, and we just had a grand old time!

After a bit, everyone went back into the lobby, we had a private photo session with Elvis, then we went back out and had another photo session with everyone, and Elvis, of course! The time booked was 30/45 minutes, but we were there closer to an hour and we are so thankful for that time and the experience! We also walked away with a renewal certificate signed/witnessed by everyone, including King Elvis Presley himself!

This truly was a unique experience and if you have the inclination to get married or renew your vows and you want to do it in Las Vegas and not go to the same places as everyone else, Las Vegas Immersive Weddings really is the place to go to. You won’t experience anything else like it, promise!

I told you we’re going to do this every 5 years, I’ll let you know where we go in 2029, but for now, I will say to you…Love me Tender and good night.

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