Few things in life were as important to "Heartbreak Hotel" co-composer Mae Boren Axton as the concept of Family. A recurring theme of the book is the way in which the Borens and the Axtons impacted upon her life. Her mother, her father, her husband, and one of her brothers all had a significant part to play in the saga of "Heartbreak Hotel". An intriguing side-story, however, is that of her elder son, Hoyt, who followed in the footsteps of his father (football and the navy),