Reply With QuoteThat's true, you can't just de-tox an addict and expect him/her to stay straight. The addictive personality has to be addressed and dealt with and the sooner the better.
Diane
Yes
No
Liz...you have said that your best friend is a counselor. Does she have any background in dealing with addictions? If you have any knowledge of drug addiction you'll know that the simple act of "detox" is the easy part. They even treat that part of it with other meds so that it's not quite so miserable while the body is ridding itself of the narcotic. If there is no heavy duty counseling, then the actual "detox" itself will mean nothing. Just because Elvis was down to one mild sleeping pill at night is neither here nor there. He was doomed to repeat the same pattern if no counseling was used.Originally Posted by ehollier
That's true, you can't just de-tox an addict and expect him/her to stay straight. The addictive personality has to be addressed and dealt with and the sooner the better.
Diane
The drug thing is way off topic in my opinion!
I donīt see any reason to put together elvis dead with the dead of his mother.
only in the way that there is a whole heart history in the family
all the presley men die from heartattack.
like million other people
he had the age ,he was overweight, +++
no big deal - so it has nothing to do with his mother!
if his mother would have lived i donīt think that he would have lived one hour longer.
my opinion.
I don't think it's off topic at all. IMO some people may think Elvis turned to drugs because of the loss of his mother at such a young age. Different events bring different responses from all of us. People can't help but wonder if there was some sort of a connection at some level. As far as "he had the age".....he was 42. He was not an old man.
no but in THE age between 40 and 50 thats THE age for it
Gladys death may have been a contributing factor to Elvis' drug habit but only in the way that he must have missed her as not only being his mother but the only person he completely trusted and felt he could turn to. I think she left quite a gap in his life when she passed.
Diane
100% Agreed Ken, there was a different mindset in the 70's, there was a pill to fix all ailments and the mindset that Elvis had was if it came from a doctor it was alrightI'm pretty sure that Gladys would have been pretty similar in her beliefs.
I agree that Elvis wouldn't have lived a minute longer if Gladys had survived, her influence over Elvis would have been limited. Elvis would have spoiled her more than anyone whoever lived. Yes she could have shouted or gave him a good talking to but Elvis would have explained he needed those drugs.... After all a Doctor prescribed them!
There is that too but maybe when Gladys saw what was happening to Elvis she might have questioned things more strongly. I don't know if he would have been able to talk his way through her or not. They seemed to have babied and spoiled each other but I think she would also have given Dr. Nick a talking to.
Diane
How about Vernon if he couldn't help why would have Gladys?
I dream a world where man no other man
will scorn. Where LOVE will bless the earth
and peace its paths adorn...
IMO it seems like Gladys probably wore the pants in the family. Something tells me that Vernon wasn't a take-charge kind of guy.And, Vernon didn't want to upset the apple cart..he was still thankful that he was able to retire at the ripe old age of 40.
Gladys had a far more strong influence over Elvis than Vernon ever had IMO.
THough I am with Matt, I think Elvis would have spoiled her to death and in the end it always goes back to Elvis. There was no one who could've stopped his death but Elvis himself but he never did, almost like he gave up in the end but tried the best he could to manage from day to day, but not the right way.
"How do I get placed in situations like this? Ah hell, I guess it's all part of showbusiness "~ Elvis in his limo on his way to perform in Omaha, NE on June 19th 1977
Elvis was unable to think straight anymore in the last few years and had no one to guide him to find the right kind of help. The same would have happened to anyone in his shoes. It's so easy to look at someone else's mistakes and think we could have done better.
Diane
Gladys had a hard time controlling Elvis when he was a child. It wasn't just that she spoiled him a bit, he had a tendancy to be rebellious and on the wild side. That was just his personality.
There are a few things that I think would have been different had she lived. But some things not.
The only influence I think she may have had on Elvis's drug use is that perhaps if it was directly effecting her and making her worry, on a longer term, that may have made him want to straighten up. (for her) The love he had for her was great and sometimes that can be part of wanting to change. But it would have had to be coupled with his will to change for himself as well.
I think galdys would of said something but l really don't think elvis would of listerned or maybe he would of said ok mom and took them behind her back, elvis liked what they did to him so whos telling if things would of been different or not.
Agreed, no one was going to change his ways.
"How do I get placed in situations like this? Ah hell, I guess it's all part of showbusiness "~ Elvis in his limo on his way to perform in Omaha, NE on June 19th 1977
Elvis had always tried to listen to her and respect her opinion and feelings up to her death.
So if she had lived past 1958 she would have been a constant influenceon him and his life. I can't see that that would not have had some lasting effect on him.
She would probably have made the trip to Germany, would his relationship with Priscilla gone on as it did? Would she have not made a difference in all situtations in which she would have been involved?
So if thats the case-perhaps her continued interaction with Elvis on a daily basis into the 70s might have changed many things that he did and the way that he did them. He would have always had the thougth-
"What will Mom think about this?"
Good points Ken. The thing is though we will never know had Gladys lived if it would've had an effect on Elvis' lifestyle. IMO it would have not went down the way it did in the end had she been there. But thats JMO.
"How do I get placed in situations like this? Ah hell, I guess it's all part of showbusiness "~ Elvis in his limo on his way to perform in Omaha, NE on June 19th 1977
I also think Elvis would have continued to take the pills behind Gladys back but I also think she would have been on his back once she found out what he was doing and rode his back big time. I don't think Gladys was ever blind to what Elvis did not would she just sit back and let him destroy himself. She would have nagged until he listened.
Diane
It is such ashame he didn't have someone like that in the end of his life. Maybe he did have some that would occasionally say something to him but not to often. Imagine watching someone you love destroy themself day after day, knowing you can't really do anything about it besides watch it happen. Talk about being tied and fried.
"How do I get placed in situations like this? Ah hell, I guess it's all part of showbusiness "~ Elvis in his limo on his way to perform in Omaha, NE on June 19th 1977
I agree, I have no idea what his lifes course would have been had she lived into the 70s. But we know how he loved and respected her from childhood until her death, so IMO thats some idea of his attitude towards her and it gives an indication of what his attitude would have been past 1958.
If Elvis ever had a "rudder" in his life to keep the ship on course I would have to give that distinction to his mom. But even with a good rudder, ships get off course so what difference in his life it would have made is surely debateable.
You would not think one persons life or death could affect someone so deeply but some cases it does.
Dean Martin was Mr. Cool- a true tough guy. IMO (like Sinatra appeared to be)He had been a boxer in his teens, a black jack dealer, and finally began to sing.
He very seldom let anything bother him-outwardly. His break-up with Jerry Lewis, his parents deaths, his divorce from his wife Jeanne, his health problems in the late 80s- he took them all in stride. Then in 1987 his favorite son, Dean Paul Martin, was killed in a jet fighter plane crash in the mountains while on training duty with the National Guard. According to many close to Martin, his ex-wife Jeanne, his other children, Jerry Lewis, and Sinatra-that is when Dean Martin began his slow death. It was something he could not deal with, and he began to retreat. Sammy Davis and Sinatra tried to get him out of his depression in 1988 by setting up a 3 man concert tour and Martin gave it a couple nights and just abruptly left. He quit performing altogether after 1991-horrid pictures showed up in the Enquirer of him without his teeth, looking sick. His health problems multiplied- emphysema and later lung cancer.
He died on Christmas morning in 1995 at his home- alone. But all who knew him well say he died in 1987 after his sons plane crashed.
Would he have retreated in 1988 if his son had lived? Would his health have gone downhill so rapidly if he had stayed active as he had always been, engaged in life, performing, having fun-instead of the depression which gripped his life after the sons crash. Something to think about.
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