Happy birthday, John Lennon.
He’d be 68 today, October 9, if only . . . .
The way an older generation remembers the exact circumstances when they first learned of John F. Kennedy’s death, I remember the time and place when I heard the news about John, December 8, 1980. I can close my eyes and be there. I was in college, my roommates had all gone out on the town, but I stayed home working on a paper. They returned in the wee hours, I was sitting at the kitchen table tapping on a typewriter, and they told me. It was the kind of news story we’ve experienced many times since — the kind we struggle to comprehend. So go on, light a candle.
The song selection below is obvious and over-exposed, I suppose. But in the end, I think, still exactly right.
