Lisa Marie Presley was a devoted mother who lived through the horrific reality of her son’s suicide
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health issues, please call or text 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to connect with a qualified counsellor or visit Lifeline.
This is how the singer-songwriter who died Thursday at 54 referred to his four children, his daughters Riley, Finley and Harper, and his son, Benjamin, in a 2019 publication on her verified Instagram account.
Her love for her children was palpable. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, Presley noted that “having all my children” was the happiest moment of his life after growing up in Graceland, superstar Elvis Presley’s only child.
That’s why she said she felt broken when Benjamin took his life in 2020 at 27.
Presley’s last post in August 2022 directed her followers to an essay she had written for National Bereavement Awareness Day that was published by People magazine “in the hope that anyone who needs to hear it all helps him one way or another.
In the essay, Presley wrote that she had “lived in the horrible reality of [grief’s] relentless grips since the death of my son two years ago” and shared his thoughts on grief and loss.
“Death is a part of life whether we like it or not, and so is grief,” she wrote. “There is so much to learn and understand on the subject, but here is what I know so far: The first is that grief does not stop or go away in any way, a year or years after the loss.”
“Grief is something you will have to carry with you for the rest of your life, despite what some people or our culture would have us believe,” Presley added. “You don’t get over it”, you don’t “move on”, period.”
Benjamin was her son with her first husband, musician Danny Keough, who is also the father of their daughter, Riley, 33, a successful actress.
Twins Finley and Harper, 14, are from Presley’s last husband, musician and producer Michael Lockwood, whom she divorced in 2016.
“I carry on for my daughters,” Presley wrote in his essay.
“I continue because my son made it very clear in his final moments that caring for his little sisters and watching over them was at the forefront of his mind and his mind. He absolutely adored them and they loved him,” he said. she wrote, “My life and the lives of my three daughters as we knew it was completely detonated and destroyed by his death. We live in this every. Alone. Day.”
Presley reflected on her relationship with her daughters, writing in a post in honour of her birthday on February 1 last year, “Like every day, I couldn’t have gotten through it without these three by my side,” along with a photo of them together.
Her beloved son, however, was never far from her thoughts.
In July 2022, she shared a photo of matching tattoos she and Benjamin had on their feet.
“Several years ago, on Mother’s Day, my son and I got these matching tattoos on our feet. It is a Celtic eternity knot. Symbolizing that we will be connected forever,” the caption to her Instagram photo read. We chose it carefully to represent our undying love and eternal bond.
Presley told the Guardian in 2012 that she feared death the most. After she left, Presley added, she wanted to be remembered: “As a good mom mostly and as a pretty decent singer-songwriter.”