I was watching Monday Night Football. I'll never forget it. It was the NY Jets and the NE Patriots. Howard Cosell broke the news. I just stared at the screen, and my heart broke.
I was prime fan age when the Beatles became popular. I watched their first appearance on TV with my friend Sharon and was hooked. Most of my high school years were defined by the Beatles and Beatlemania. I went to their concert in Minneapolis in 1965. I won a local TV magazine contest and Sharon and I got to go to their press conference. We felt like we were in heaven.
Years later, after I moved to New York, I was walking up Broadway, in the 70's and John and Yoko just strolled by me. I didn't have the nerve to say anything, but I was thunderstruck at how at ease he was. No one was paying any attention to him, which is why he loved New York. He loved the freedom here.
And, I agree, he found his soulmate in Yoko. The more I learn about him, the more I realize how she brought out the best in him, and theirs was a true partnership.
Almost a week after his murder, Yoko had requested 10 minutes of silence. She had requested people gather in Central Park and at a certain time (I believe it was 1:00), start the 10 minutes of silence. I had met a friend, and we were just entering Central Park at 1 PM, with a huge crowd of people, when this wave of silence engulfed us. We could feel the silence taking hold. We found a place to sit, and the silence, among thousands of people, was overwhelming. Exactly 10 minutes later, someone started playing an amplified tape of Imagine, and the sun broke through the clouds. It was amazing. I can't hear that song - ever - without tears streaming down my cheeks.
Gone too soon. I constantly imagine the wonders we would have seen from John Lennon had he lived.
I was prime fan age when the Beatles became popular. I watched their first appearance on TV with my friend Sharon and was hooked. Most of my high school years were defined by the Beatles and Beatlemania. I went to their concert in Minneapolis in 1965. I won a local TV magazine contest and Sharon and I got to go to their press conference. We felt like we were in heaven.
Years later, after I moved to New York, I was walking up Broadway, in the 70's and John and Yoko just strolled by me. I didn't have the nerve to say anything, but I was thunderstruck at how at ease he was. No one was paying any attention to him, which is why he loved New York. He loved the freedom here.
And, I agree, he found his soulmate in Yoko. The more I learn about him, the more I realize how she brought out the best in him, and theirs was a true partnership.
Almost a week after his murder, Yoko had requested 10 minutes of silence. She had requested people gather in Central Park and at a certain time (I believe it was 1:00), start the 10 minutes of silence. I had met a friend, and we were just entering Central Park at 1 PM, with a huge crowd of people, when this wave of silence engulfed us. We could feel the silence taking hold. We found a place to sit, and the silence, among thousands of people, was overwhelming. Exactly 10 minutes later, someone started playing an amplified tape of Imagine, and the sun broke through the clouds. It was amazing. I can't hear that song - ever - without tears streaming down my cheeks.
Gone too soon. I constantly imagine the wonders we would have seen from John Lennon had he lived.
