Lisa Marie Presley Felt 'Destroyed' After Son Benjamin's Death But Kept 'Going for My Girls'

02/02/2023 08:30 pm EST

Lisa Marie Presley's untimely death has brought an essay the famous daughter previously wrote for Grief Awareness Day back o the spotlight. In the emotional piece, Presley discussed the impact that her son's death had on her life. In the essay, originally published in 2020 by PEOPLE, Presley shared how the death of her child, Benjamin Keough, "destroyed" her. She added that, while it was painful, she made kept "going for my girls." Presley was mother to actress Riley Keough, 33, as well as twin daughters Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood.

"It's a real choice to keep going, one that I have to make every single day and one that is constantly challenging to say the least," she wrote of how she was managing in the wake of her son's death, which had occurred just the month prior to her August 2020 essay. "But I keep going for my girls. I keep going because my son made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them were on the forefront of his concerns and his mind. He absolutely adored them and they him." Presley added, "My and my three daughters' lives as we knew it were completely detonated and destroyed by his death. We live in this every. Single. Day."

Presley went on to encourage readers to reach out to friends who've lost someone close to them. "Ask them how they're doing, ask them to talk about their person," she wrote. "Yes! We DO want to talk about them. That's how we keep them alive in our hearts, that's how they don't get forgotten, that is what keeps us alive as well. And do me a favor, don't tell them that 'you can't imagine' their pain. The truth is, oh yes you can – you just don't want to."

Sadly, on Thursday, Jan. 12, Presley was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency. She died sometime later. No official cause of death has been reported, Presley was 54 at the time of her death.

In a statement announcing the terrible news, Presley's mother, Priscilla Presley, wrote, "It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us. She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment."

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