In the forthcoming memoir titled “From Here to the Great Unknown,” penned by Lisa Marie Presley prior to her death, she shares the intimate details of coping with the loss of her son, Benjamin Keough. The memoir reveals that she kept Benjamin’s body at her home in Calabasas, California for two months after his suicide in July 2020.

Benjamin, who took his own life at 27, was the grandson of music legend Elvis Presley. In the midst of her intense grief, Lisa Marie opted to keep his body preserved on dry ice in a separate casita at her residence. As she explains in her memoir, this was possible due to the absence of a law in California requiring immediate burial. “There is no law in the state of California that you have to bury someone immediately,” Presley wrote.

With the help of a sympathetic funeral home owner, Benjamin’s body was brought to Presley’s residence. His body was maintained at a temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit in a specially preserved room. While this arrangement might seem unconventional to many, Presley writes that it was a crucial part of her grieving process.

Presley described her experience, writing, “I got so used to him being there. I think it would scare the living [expletive] out of anybody else, but I was grateful to have the opportunity to spend time with him.”

During this time, Presley and her daughter, Riley Keough, decided to commemorate Benjamin with matching tattoos. They invited a tattoo artist to their home to see Benjamin’s tattoos. “We wanted to get something that was meaningful,” Riley shared.

Ultimately, Presley faced a difficult decision about where to bury Benjamin—whether to choose Hawaii or Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, where her father, Elvis Presley, is interred. Benjamin was finally laid to rest at Graceland, marking the first burial there in four decades.

The memoir also explores Presley’s struggles with grief and addiction following her son’s death. Riley Keough shared how her brother’s death deeply impacted her mother, writing, “She was completely heartbroken, but she stayed sober for him.”

Presley passed away on January 12, 2023, at 54, due to complications from weight loss surgery, as confirmed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. She was buried next to Benjamin in Graceland’s Meditation Garden.

After her mother’s death, Riley Keough finished writing the memoir. She relied on recordings of Presley’s memories, which included insights into her life at Graceland, her relationships with her parents, and her marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

The memoir aims to provide a candid look into Presley’s experiences with love, loss, and resilience.