Happy Birthday John!

John Lennon’s Birthday
John Winston Lennon was born to Julia Stanley and Alf Lennon during an air raid over Liverpool, on October 9th, 1940. His mother gave him the middle name 'Winston' in a moment of patriotism, after Winston Churchill. He was quickly put under the bed to protect him from the falling debris brought about by the bombing.
John's parents were separated when he was very young. He and his mother lived with her parents, while his father, Alf, was away as a merchant seaman. Alf sent checks home, but when they stopped, Julia assumed she'd been abandoned by Alf and began to date other men She soon had an affair with a man known as 'Taffy Williams'. It was a short affair, but soon Julia found that she was with child. When Alf returned, he asked the pregnant Julia to come back to him. By this time, she had had enough of Alf Lennon, and sent him away. At her father and sisters insistence, she gave the baby girl, (called Elizabeth by Julia, and Victoria by her adoptive family) up for adoption. It was not until after John's death, did she find her family, as she did not want to upset her adoptive mother.
Julia went on with her life and became involved and moved in with hotel manager, John Dykins, the true love of her life. She called him Bobby because she said she 'only had room for one John in her life'. Julia and Alf were never legally divorced. When John was 4, his Aunt Mimi (with the support of his Grandfather) brought Child Protective Services to Julia and Bobby's home, stating that he should not stay with them as they were not married. The officer plainly told her that it did not matter, and that she was his mother and he could not remove him from her home. Not ready to give up, she attempted this again later, this time adding that it was improper for a 4 year old boy to sleep with his mother and her 'lover' since he did not have his own room. They agreed, and unfortunately for John, he was separated from his mother, and moved into Mendips, with Mimi and her husband George Smith. Once Alf found out where John had been taken, he went to Mimi and asked her to let him take John on holiday. She reluctantly agreed. Alf wanted to take young John off to New Zealand with him. However, before he could leave with the boy, Julia found out and went to Alf's flat to retrieve her son. Alf again asked Julia to come back to him, but all she wanted was her little boy. Alf, or 'Freddie' as he was sometimes called, put John on his knee, and asked the toddler with which parent did he choose to live. John, being a typical 4 year old, said that he wanted to stay with his daddy. Julia began to cry and turned to leave. She walked just a few feet down the sidewalk, when John came running up behind her crying and wanting to go with her. This would be the last time that he and Alf would see each other for many years.
John loved his Uncle George and was very close to him as a boy. George taught John how to do crossword puzzles, and bought him his first harmonica. He as a dairyman, and since he and Mimi had no children of their own, John was like a son to him. But, when John was just 13 years old, George suffered a brain anurism, and passed away. This was a major blow to John, and was left with only the cold, and unemotional Mimi.
John buried the pain, but had already, since the age of 11, began to spend more and more time with Julia and her new family. He had 2 sisters, Julia and Jaqui, and was very close to them. By this time, Julia and Bobby had a home with enough bedrooms, but Mimi had refused to return him to his mother. As Mimi was the oldest of the sisters, she felt powerless to get her son back. However, since they had a home very close, John could go there often, and loved his mothers sense of humor and fun. She was the absolute polar opposite from his Aunt Mimi. She played games with him and his sisters, and taught him to play banjo cords on a guitar she'd bought him. He recalled much later that it said 'Guaranteed not to split' on the guitar, and he loved it. It was Julia whom introduced him to rock n roll, and was the first person to play 'Elvis' on the phonograph for him. She even had a cat named Elvis.
On July 6, 1957, John met Paul McCartney. John liked the way Paul sang and played 'Twenty Flight Rock'. He soon asked Paul to join his band, 'The Quarrymen'.
John was becoming very close to his mother by this time, and spent as much time there as he could. Julia, even if John was at her house, went to visit Mimi every day. On the afternoon of July 15, 1958, she waved goodbye to her daughter Julia and said she'd be home soon. Julia said later that she had a terrible feeling that she would not see her again, and begged her not to go. Sadly, when Julia was leaving Mimi's house that night she was hit and killed by an off duty police officer that had been drinking. This tragic loss seems to have affected him more than anything else in his life.
After the death of his mother, John became a troubled young man. He was expelled from school for being a disruption in his classes and was diagnosed with hyperactivity (known as ADHD today). It was only because of his Aunt Mimi and the Head Master of Quarry Bank High School, that he was able to attend the Liverpool College of Art. It was here that he met his first love, Cynthia Powell, and, of course, friend and mentor Stuart Sutcliffe.
John and Cynthia became inseparable in those days, and she gave him the love and support he needed. The Beatles were becoming well known among the lunch goers at the Cavern Club, as well as the Indra and Casbah clubs. Soon, the boys, John, Paul, George (who was never officially invited to join) Stuart and Pete Best, were on their way to Hamburg, Germany. It was in Hamburg that they became seasoned performers, and became much more proficient musicians as well.
In early 1962, Stuart had decided to leave The Beatles. He was not a musician and only wanted to focus on his art, and new love, Astrid. Sadly, Stuart had been beaten very badly by some 'roughs' and, due to injuries sustained to his head, he suffered a brain anurism and passed away in Hamburg, Germany, April 10th, 1962. He was only 21 years old. John was devastated, and became very depressed. It was Astrid who pulled him out of it, saying 'you either live or you die. You have to choose'. He chose life, and went home to Liverpool.
About this time, they had met Brian Epstein. Brian, the son of a wealthy family, and heir to NEMS Enterprises. Brian took on the job of their Manager, and it is because of him that they got a contract with EMI. It was Brian that was so influential in getting George Martin to meet them, as George really didn't like the music they made at all. They recorded 'Please, Please Me' at Abby Road Studios on September 11th, 1962.
18 days previously, John and Cynthia married, as they were expecting a baby. This was to be kept quiet, at Brian's insistence, because he felt that John's fans would not like it if they knew that he was already taken. Their son, John Charles Julian Lennon, was born on April 8th, 1963 at 7:45 am at Sefton General Hospital, in Liverpool.
During the 'Beatle' years, John became increasingly disillusioned with fame, the fans and the direction that his career was taking. He was, after all, an artist first. He was frustrated that they could not be heard over the screaming crowd, and his love for Cynthia was fading and he was growing apart from her. In 1966, after a very bad flight over the US, and a misunderstood comment taken (way) out of context - the 'The Beatles are more popular than Christ' comment - they decided to quit touring. It seemed that the end of The Beatles was imminent.
The Beatles went into the studio, and began to experiment. It was then that they really began to prove to themselves, and the world that they were true artists. John also had begun to experiment with drugs. He was searching for something, and decided to go with the (ex) husband of Marianne Faithfull, John Dunbar, to the Indica Gallery opening in London, of a new avant garde artist named Yoko Ono.
By July of 1968 he and Yoko were together and his marriage to Cynthia was over. He and Yoko became very interested in creating art and music together, and were deeply involved in the peace movement. They were inseparable. John took Yoko everywhere with him, including the recording studio. This, along with many other factors, created strain among the band, and it seemed that they could not work together any longer without arguing. This was also due to the fact that Brian Epstein had passed away, and they relied on him completely. When he died, the glue that held them together began to weaken. Money became a huge issue, and the fate of their new company 'Apple Records' was dim. Soon, they disbanded. Most of us know this messy bit of history, so I won't go into it. It seems that no matter what direction they were to go in, it would have wound up the same anyway.
In the summer of 1980, John and Yoko put out an LP called 'Double Fantasy'. It was such a wonderful piece of work, from John's beautiful tribute to his wife of 12 years "Woman", to the song he wrote for his second son, Sean, "Beautiful Boy". It was exciting and wonderful that he had finally returned to us with this expertly crafted piece. Their son, Sean, was born in 1975 and was the light on Johns life. He was finally settling into a happy life. The conflicted man that could never quite find inner peace, had found it.
On December 8th, 1980, at 10pm, John and Yoko had just finished a long day working on some tracks for their follow up LP, "Milk and Honey", and had talked about getting dinner, but wanted to go by and say goodnight to Sean. The limo driver stopped in front of the Dakota Apartments, and John stepped out of the car. A man by the name of Mark David Chapman, shot him in the back. I still cry when I think about the loss we shared that night. Chapman has said since that nothing could have stopped him from doing this. He assassinated John Lennon to 'become someone' he said recently.
John would have been 68 years old today. He made a difference in my life, and no matter how long I live, I will always remember him fondly and with love.
Happy Birthday, John, wherever you are.